Today we have two reasons to celebrate. Its Food Day, AND the 2nd Annual Southern Greens Festival will be happening at the Market! Each year, on October 24th, thousands of events across the country are held to celebrate food and push for improved food policies. The focus for this year is on food access and justice for food and farm workers. Problems related to poor diet such as obesity, heart disease, and diabetes cost Americans over 100 billion each year, so it just makes sense to promote a healthy diet, right?! The Food Day priorities are to Promote safer, healthier diets Support sustainable and organic markets Reduce hunger and improve food access Reform the practices used at factory farms to protect the environment and farm animals Support fair working conditions for food and farm workers. We here at Hip Donelson Community Farmers Market feel very strongly that everyone should have access to healthy, fresh food. We were the areas first community farmers market to accept SNAP tokens, and through our partnership with Piedmont Natural Gas, we have been able to offer the double SNAP tokens. If youre not familiar, for every token purchased, the recipient receives another token good for fresh produce. This is good for recipients of SNAP benefits only and is good for up to $20. The Double SNAP program has been so successful, it is now being offered at the other Nashville area community farmers markets. The Southern Greens Festival, which is an official registered Food Day event, certainly promotes healthy eating. Some nutritionists believe that greens are the #1 food you can eat to help improve your health. The leafy vegetables are chock-a-block full of fiber, vitamins, minerals, and plant-based substances that can help protect you from heart disease and diabetes. Heres a list of some of the more popular greens. Kale is a nutritional powerhouse. Use it in salads, sauteed with garlic, in soup, and if you havent tried kale chips yet, what have you been waiting for? Collards are similar in nutritional value to kale but with a chewier texture and a cabbage-like taste. Collards are typically slow-cooked, but they can also can be used as wrappers to replace tortillas or bread. Turnip greens are more tender so they dont need to be cooked as long. We here in the south prefer to cook them with pork. Swiss Chard has a beet-like taste and is perfect for sauteeing. Spinach, like kale, is super versatile and its loaded with vitamins A and C. And heres a little tidbit you may not be aware of - cooked spinach gives you more nutrition than raw! Mustard greens are spicier, and many cooks add lemon juice or vinegar near the end of cooking time to cut down on the spiciness. Many of our produce vendors offer several varieties of greens. We hope you will come out from 4 to 7 and help us celebrate Food Day and Southern Greens! Were having a contest for the best greens dish, a pumpkin carving station, a scarecrow contest, as well as great food offerings from Riffs Fine Street Food and Crankees Pizzeria. The Barrel Jumpers will be entertaining us with their folk/roots/bluegrass sound from 5 to 7. Its going to be a beautiful day, and this is our next-to-last Market, so wed love to see you there!
Posted on: Fri, 24 Oct 2014 16:32:17 +0000
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