I have recently been reading books on longevity and incidentally discovered that organic gardening plays a large part in their secrets.
The Blue Zones book covered centenarians from Nicoya, Sardinia and Okinawa. These people ate what they produced in their home garden, supplemented by staples. They avoided processed food, and ate a predominately lean semi-vegetarian plant-based diet.
The Okinawans’ from Japan eat lots of turmeric, garlic and mugwort and fresh, organic vegetables. Food that is packed full of nutrients and antioxidants. Every day they spend some time outdoors and therefore receive a good level of Vitamin D. They were found to be active walkers and gardeners.
Costa Ricans over 100 follow a low calorie, low fat, plant-based diet, with huge quantities of fresh tropical fruit.
Healthy at 100 book follows in a similar vein. The Abkhasians eat a large quantity of fresh fruit and vegetables form their home garden. While in Vilcabamba, they eat a mostly vegetarian diet based on whole grains, seeds, beans and nuts along with fresh fruit and vegetables.
Gardening can help to relieve stress and involves frequent low-intensity movement with a full-range of motions. To top it off you get fresh organic fruit and vegetables which may lead to a longer life.
The Blue Zones By Dan Buettener – Good introduction and easy reading, although recommendations are on the conservative side. Blue Zones website.
Healthy at 100by John Robbins – A well researched look at four cultures with the healthiest and longest living people. (He is the son of one of the Baskin-Robbins founders). Typically promotes a plant-based vegan diet. Healthy at 100 website.
There’s been a plethora of people undertaking challenges and documenting the results in blogs in the last couple of years. Here’s a round up of some of the better food and garden related ones:
Julie and Julia - The original cooking challenge. Soon to be a movie.
Plenty aka One Mile Diet – Covers the issues well. I felt they sometimes went a little too far (using flour with rat poo). Inspired a number of other eat local challenges. http://100milediet.org/
Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver - A popular book by on eating local produce for a year and farming practices in the USA. Although not a challenge, I’d also like to recommend the British ‘Not on the Label‘ which covers many of the same topics and is thoroughly researched.
Living the Good Life by Linda Cockburn – An Australian family who aims to spend no money in 6 months. Covers a good range of environmental issues. I still want to know, what did they use for loo paper? Currently building a straw bale house in Tasmania.
Before our car became unpredictable, we used to enjoy exploring all the foreign food shops in Baklava Street, Brisbane. Behind the pub on the corner there is a small fresh fruit and vegetable market on Saturdays. Since our last visit Samios Foods has closed down and the prices have predictably risen.
As our challenge is about trying to reduce our carbon footprint, I am more conscious of the decision to purchase locally and Australian made products. I was pleased to discover the Indian Foods shop contained many Australian products at wholesale prices. I felt I was less tempted than I have been in the past, and trying a new product just because it was foreign has lost some of is novelty.
Pennisi Cuisine 17 Balaclava Street, Woolloongabba,
Phone: 07 3891 7643
Open 7 days
Pennisi has goodies from Italy, Spain, Balkans, Russia, Poland, Czech, Greece, Egypt, Lebanon, Morocco, Middle East, Brazil, Argentina and Latin America. Known as the best place to buy cheese in Brisbane. We purchased aborio rice, polenta, bread, black beans, jamon, smoked paprika and tapas pottery dishes.
All India Foods Wholesaler 31 Balaclava St, Woolloongabba
Phone: (07) 3391 1420
Open 7 days
All India Foods has a vast array of spices, pulses and rice at affordable prices. They also have a number of gluten-free flours and almond meal at a fraction of the prices you’d find at the health shop. Here we bought chutney, cumin, coriander, green split peas, and pappadums.
If I ever won the lottery, I’d love to buy every single book on my Amazon wishlist. Now that delicious thought would be pure cookbook utopia. Although I’d probably need to buy a couple of extra bookcases as well to store them all in!
While I’m day dreaming, I’d also like a gorgeous walk-in pantry like Nigellas’. Now she has cookbook collection to die for.
In the meantime I’ll settle for one or two classic cookbooks from each of my favourite countries:
Early this year was marked by the Black Saturday bushfires. Uncharacteristic hot days and strong winds whipped flames through Victoria and resulted in Australia’s worst loss of life from a bushfire. Over 2000 houses were destroyed!
Paul McCartney has launched “Meat-Free Mondays” to help cut carbon emissions. The livestock industy is responsible for about 18% of global greenhouse gases. The aim to cut back on our meat consumption is more likely to be achievable than encouraging everyone to turn vegetarian.
Good quality organic meat is a luxury, so perhaps we should be aiming for quality rather than quantity. Here’s two quotes from Italian cooks:
“Years ago in my village, meat was not consumed very often as we were by the sea and fish would obviously cost a lot less…… If we have to reduce our weekly intake of meat to be able to afford the best [organic], then so bet it.”
- Gennaro Contaldo
“Traditionally, vegetables were cooked more often in a Sicilian kitchen than was meat. Meat was expensive and so it was saved for special occasions and celebrations.”
- Rosa Mitchell
We’re been trying to eat vegetarian at least once a day. Please leave your suggestions for any vegetarian recipes that you have tried and would recommend.
I’ve been keen to trial organic box delivery, but when I did my research awhile ago our suburb wasn’t included in the drop-off zone. I’ve since found Farm Fresh Organics and we’ve had two deliveries so far.
The first week we ordered a mixed medium box of organic fruit and vegetables on the Tuesday. A Styrofoam box with ice packs was delivered a few days later containing: 1 leek, 1 cos lettuce, 3 zucchini, 1kg carrots, 4 onions, 8 mushrooms, 1/4 kent pumpkin, 1/2 cauliflower, 1 1/2 broccoli, 1/4 cabbage, 1 corn cob, 4 apples, 4 bananas, 3 sweet mandarins and 8 oranges. Phew.
Big M was concerned that he liked to feel, smell and select what he wanted to buy, but we were more then happy with the quality of the produce. One night Big M steamed some grocery carrots mixed with organic carrots. He then asked me which where the organic ones! I selected the wrong ones based on colour. The grocery ones were bright orange and quite hard. The organic ones were duller but softer and tasted nicer.
Another concern was the cost. Organics can quickly add up, but we found that we could keep the price down by selecting produce in season and sticking to a spending limit. We also found that some things had a similar price to non-organic produce in the supermarkets. We ate everything, except the lettuce and some onions. I like to think of it as an investment in our health, and the mixed box is a good deal.
This week we decided to select individual items for our order. This time we got a bigger box, so it wan’t as packed. Big M got the scales out, but everything ended up being a little over what we were charged. A rare occurrence these days.
We also ordered some organic lamb chops, which were more gamey, with visible marbled fat. Big M said he’d order a different cut next time. I ordered my usual gluten-free loaf of bread and was impressed by how fresh it was!
The only draw back is now that we are eating more fruit and vegetables, we are probably making it harder on ourselves to become self sufficient! Highly recommended.
Even the most experienced gardeners have to deal with gluts in produce and as a result they may own a few more different pieces of equipment then the norm. Gardener cooks need to be creative with their produce as it’s easy to tire of eating the same dish over and over again.
Blender: Useful for making soups and smoothies. You’ll need a heavy duty motor if you want to blend ice or make nut milks. Try: Kitchenaid or VitaMix. Magic Bullet and Personal Blender are smaller portable version.
Food processor: Similar to a blender, but usually has extra blades and disks to perform more tasks. You can slice and chop vegetables, grind, shred and puree food, as well as mixing and kneading doughs. Try: Bruan, Cuisinart, and Kitchenaid.
Food Dehydrator: Usually have stackable trays or removable trays. An inexpensive way to preserve the nutrients in your produce and extend their life. Try Excalibur or Fowlers.
Juicers: Look for ones that separate the juice from the pulp (then use the pulp in bread, cake and biscuit making). Crushing or cold press juicers are best for retaining nutrients. Try Champion or Oscar Living.
Preserving kit with air-tight bottles, cans or mason jars.
Grain grinder: Useful for making flour. Steel-burred is best.
Sprouter: A dedicated container for growing sprouts. Try A.Vogel.
Veggie ‘spiraler’ : Make pasta-like strands out of your vegetables. Try Benriner Cook Help Spiral Vegatable Slicer (or Cooks Helper or Asian Spiral Slicer – they’re all the same).
Tea strainer: for making herbal teas.
If you serious about being self-sufficient, you may also want a yogurt maker (Easiyo) and a beer making kit (also good for cider).
It was time for a winter clean of our kitchen, which included emptying out our cupboard and fridge. It wasn’t too bad since our recent weevil infestation and we had already thrown out many unwanted boxes and bottles. Although, we did find a roll of marzipan that expired 2 years ago (from my cupcake decorating faze).
Enjoy seeing what other people eat (and try to spot the snake):
Hungry Planet: What the World Eats provides an illustrated look at how different families around the world eat. I’m going to admit that I didn’t read much of the text in the book, because comparing the photos from each country was more fascinating. Peter Menzel, the photographer, has provided an illustrated preview [PDF 9.6MB].
Mark Menjivar has taken some very telling photos of fridges in the US. (Select ‘portfolio’ > ‘you are what you eat’ >’ images’)
Here’s a round up of some of the better documentary films which deal with food and diet that I’ve seen in the last couple of years:
Future of Food- A scary film about the dominance of certain companies trying to monopolise food supply and the dangers of genetic modification. See also the Future of Food website. Sadly the GM ban was recently lifted in Australia – so please be wary of any products containing canola, cotton, cotton seed oil, corn and soybeans.
King Corn – A doco about two friends who grew an acre of corn over a year. They then follow its path into the food chain and into their hair! Corn feed cattle feedlots are disgusting.
Simply Raw – Reversing Diabetes in 30 Days: An amazing story of a handful of courageous diabetics who go raw for 30 days. Some of them reduce their insulin dependence and lose weight, and others drop out from the sheer difficulty in sticking to the diet. But it’s pretty inspiring, nevertheless. There is an accompanying website called Raw for 30 Days.
Super Size Me – A popular film featuring Morgan Spurluck, who documents his health while eating McDonald’s for 30 days. Maccas was forced to change their menus after it’s release, and withdraw its super-sized fries and drinks.
Food Matters – A panel of experts talk about the important role that diet does play in the prevention and reversal of many diseases.
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Posted by littlem 
A recipe from the archives of Gustoso is featured in the 
