Environmental Working Group's 2012 DirtyDozen List The EWG's Shopper's Guide is not built on a complex assessment of pesticide risks but instead reflects the overall pesticide loads of common fruits and vegetables. This approach best captures the uncertainties of the risks of pesticide exposure. Since researchers are constantly developing new insights into how pesticides act on living organisms, no one can say that concentrations of pesticides assumed today to be safe are, in fact, harmless. The Shopper's Guide aims to give consumers confidence that by following EWG's advice to buy the following foods organic, they can buy foods with consistently lower overall levels of pesticide contamination. EWG recommends the following foods should be purchased organic... In general, tree fruits, berries, leafy greens dominate the list... 1. Apples 2. Celery 3. Sweet bell peppers 4. Peaches 5. Strawberries 6. Nectarines 7, Grapes 8, Spinach 9. Lettuce 10. Cucumbers 11. Blueberries 12. Potatoes Plus + Green beans + Kale/Greens Available at our market when in season.   Read more at http://www.ewg.org/release/ewg-releases-2012-shopper-s-guide-pesticides-produce

Wake Up Hungry!

When is the last time you woke up in the morning and actually felt hungry, had hunger pangs in your belly? If this occurs all the time, great! If not, you should probably consider changing up your diet.

You want to wake up hungry because this means you did not over eat the previous night. Basically, you should eat when you expend energy. Understand first that food = calorie = energy. In other words, food is the sort of solid form of energy. When you are moving your body needs energy or food to function optimally. When you are at rest, your body doesn't need many calories so there is little need for food. It's a simple concept, energy in (food), energy out (moving or exercise).

Thus the saying, "Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a pauper." You need energy or food when you are expending it, working all day, exercising... You don't need much food once you stop at night, for most of us, after dinner.

If you eat too little during the day, skip breakfast and grab a bite for lunch, your body will be deprived of the energy it needs. You will feel sluggish and not be able to perform optimally. If you eat most of your calories at dinner and snack a lot at night, your body will store the excess calories as fat.

In fact, a pound is equivalent to 3,500 calories. If you eat 2 oreos every night while sitting around watching TV, and you already ate the calories your body needed to move throughout the day, you will gain 11 pounds in one year!

Your goal should be to nourish your body during the day when you are expending energy so your body can perform optimally and stop eating at night when you are hanging out. If you do this, you are less likely to gain unwanted weight and you will wake up hungry!

Lisa Browning, RD, LDN

Market Manager, Barrington Farmers' Market

PS - Remember, real health comes from real food and real food usually does not come from a box or package. Fresh foods have more vitamins, minerals, fiber and phytochemicals than processed foods. Join the "slow food movement" and buy real food which is plentiful at our farmers' market.

Come to the Barrington Farmers Market tomorrow and get your ribs for this delicious recipe...

TRISH'S SLOW ROASTED/BBQ BEER RIBS

1 package ribs, pork, lamb, beef or goat from Windmist Farm 2 beer 1 bay leaf 4 garlic cloves salt & pepper, to taste 1 teaspoon seasoned salt 1 onion, roughly chopped your favorite barbecue sauce salt and pepper Preheat oven to 225°F. Cut up rib slab into individual ribs. Put ribs in large baking pan, add the rest of ingredients (excluding BBQ sauce). Cover with foil and slow roast for 2 to 3 hours. Remove ribs, brush with BBQ sauce. Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste. . Barbecue ribs on the grill to get outsides crispy. The ribs are amazingly tender!!!! Enjoy! Submitted by: Trish 2012 Cooks.com

Featured Vendor Windmist Farm Healthy and Homegrown Meats Proudly selling naturally raised beef, pork, chicken, lamb, and goat to Jamestown, Newport, Middletown, North and South Kingstown, Portsmouth, Exeter, East Greenwhich and now, Barrington, RI! Windmist Farm on Jamestown RI is known for its locally grown meat products and spectacular landscape. They believe in providing our community with a healthy and safe source of food. The meats that you buy from the farm are naturally raised on grass, which means that they are free from added growth hormones or unnecessary antibiotics found in some local store bought brands. Studies have shown that grass fed beef has less fat, which means that you are buying more meat per pound. It also has more vitamin E, beta-carotene, vitamin C, and a number of health-promoting fats, including omega-3 fatty acids. This translates into a better value for your health and your wallet. http://www.windmistfarm.com/.

How Do I Eat "Healthy?"

Do you often wonder what are the best, healthiest foods to eat? Given the media continually bombards you with misinformation, it's no wonder there is confusion! When you think about it, the difficulty in isolating nutrients and studying them in people is nearly impossible given the numerous variables. The science behind many claims is weak at best and often based on little or no scientific evidence. So what is the answer? It is SIMPLE. That is, keep it simple: EAT REAL FOODS.

People ask me how many days should I exercise per week. I ask them how many days do they eat per week? Simple isn't it, energy in, energy out.

It is simple to eat healthy as well, simply eat real food. This means limiting processed foods in your diet and eating foods which come without labels. Take a minute and look at the processed foods you have in your cabinets. Read the ingredient labels. Do you know what the ingredients are? Can you even pronounce them? My advice is to eat as little processed foods as possible and eat more real foods, foods without labels and unidentifiable ingredients. If you do have favorite processed foods, be sure to pick the brand with the shortest list of ingredients. For instance, you can buy tortilla chips with an ingredient list a mile long or buy a brand with 4-5 ingredients.

Real health comes from real food and real food usually does not come from a box or package. Fresh foods have more vitamins, minerals, fiber and phytochemicals than processed foods. Join the "slow food movement" and buy real food which is plentiful at our farmers' market.

Lisa Browning, RD, LDN

Barrington Farmers Market

Market Manager

Featured Vendor - Oakdale Farms

Featured Vendor - Oakdale Farms

Oakdale Farms is a 6th generation working vegetable and horticulture farm. The farm practices safe and environmentally friendly farming, committed to Integrated Pest Management (IPM) on 150 acres and 10 greenhouses for years. In 2010, they started transitioning to Certified Organic herbs and vegetables. The Pray family continues their heritage in Rehoboth and also farm in Seekonk, Dighton & East Providence, RI.

IPM 

IPM is an effective and environmentally sensitive approach to pest management. It is used to manage pest damage by the most economical means, and with the least possible hazard to people, property, and the environment. IPM takes advantage of all appropriate pest management options including, but not limited to, the judicious use of pesticides. In addition, Oakdale Farm's produce is organic. This means they limit the use of pesticides to those that are produced from natural sources, as opposed to synthetic chemicals. The combined result is that produce from Oakdale Farm is grown with minimal use of organic pesticides. You can feel assured that you are getting farm fresh safe, healthy and nutritious produce.

The Oakdale Farm booth is roadside, in the middle. Stop and say hello to Laura!