NPR ran an excellent story this week about yet another study that concluded a Mediterranean diet is a healthy way to eat, particularly for your heart.
The study concludes "a diet rich in olive oil, fish, nuts , fresh vegetables and wine" can dramatically reduce the risk of heart attack and stroke." But in addition to reporting the research findings, Gerry Hadden also visits a small restaurant along the coast of Spain and asks a local restaurant owner why he thinks the diet works so well.
"Everyone already knows our diet is healthy," said Pepe Bache, owner of The Room Service. "Generally speaking, our diet is fresher because of the warm weather. It lets you grow crops most of the year and offers variety."
"Every region of the world ought to have their so-called Mediterranean diet," Sandra, the restaurant manager, added. "That is, you eat what grows where you live and you eat it in season. If you want to eat well, you can't expect to eat mangoes in Iceland in the wintertime."
Pepe and Sandra's thoughts make a lot of sense to me, as it's difficult to make poor food choices if you're building your meals around locally-grown food. It's always fresh, and the different seasons naturally incorporates variety.
For example, I built my meal plan around what I picked up at my farmer's market this weekend:
I roasted the chicken, potatoes and Jerusalem artichokes, tossed the turnip greens with pasta, boiled the broccoli and turnips, sauteed the Brussels sprout leaves (botanically identical to collard greens according to George at Lil' Farm), made a pesto out of the stems, simmered the Swiss chard with chick peas and onion in white wine, served the pea shoots in a salad, and ate eggs for breakfast.
The study concludes "a diet rich in olive oil, fish, nuts , fresh vegetables and wine" can dramatically reduce the risk of heart attack and stroke." But in addition to reporting the research findings, Gerry Hadden also visits a small restaurant along the coast of Spain and asks a local restaurant owner why he thinks the diet works so well.
"Everyone already knows our diet is healthy," said Pepe Bache, owner of The Room Service. "Generally speaking, our diet is fresher because of the warm weather. It lets you grow crops most of the year and offers variety."
"Every region of the world ought to have their so-called Mediterranean diet," Sandra, the restaurant manager, added. "That is, you eat what grows where you live and you eat it in season. If you want to eat well, you can't expect to eat mangoes in Iceland in the wintertime."
Pepe and Sandra's thoughts make a lot of sense to me, as it's difficult to make poor food choices if you're building your meals around locally-grown food. It's always fresh, and the different seasons naturally incorporates variety.
For example, I built my meal plan around what I picked up at my farmer's market this weekend:
I roasted the chicken, potatoes and Jerusalem artichokes, tossed the turnip greens with pasta, boiled the broccoli and turnips, sauteed the Brussels sprout leaves (botanically identical to collard greens according to George at Lil' Farm), made a pesto out of the stems, simmered the Swiss chard with chick peas and onion in white wine, served the pea shoots in a salad, and ate eggs for breakfast.
In a few weeks, the dark, leafy, winter veggies will give way to fresh garlic, fennel, asparagus and fava beans, and I'll get the variety my diet needs just by showing up every Saturday morning.
All I need now is great wine for six bucks...
