It’s Saturday morning and the sun beats down on Morgan Hill’s
downtown farmers market. Kam Khuzaie picks up a small Dixie cup and
samples some freshly squeezed orange juice at the Bill Ferry Farms
stand.
”
Oooh,
”
he exclaims, savoring the flavor.
”
That’s good.
”
It’s 100 percent orange juice
– naturally sweet – squeezed the night before.
It’s Saturday morning and the sun beats down on Morgan Hill’s downtown farmers market. Kam Khuzaie picks up a small Dixie cup and samples some freshly squeezed orange juice at the Bill Ferry Farms stand.
“Oooh,” he exclaims, savoring the flavor. “That’s good.” It’s 100 percent orange juice – naturally sweet – squeezed the night before.
All around him, growers sell from their stands the colorful bounty of California’s family-run farms. Vine-ripened tomatoes tinted a deep scarlet. Freshly-picked squash tinged the yellow of sunshine. Just-harvested lettuce and cucumbers hued a healthy green.
And at the Bill Ferry Farms stand where Khuzaie now enjoys his juice, a table overflows with bags of Valencia oranges colored bright, er, orange.
“It’s such a joy to come here and see all the fresh fruits and vegetables,” said the grinning Morgan Hill resident, a nuclear power plant consultant for General Electric. He shows off a watermelon he just bought. It was harvested the day before in the Central Valley town of Turlock. “Just picked! You can’t get any fresher.”
Early that morning, Mark Balderama, a vendor for Bill Ferry Farms, drove his truck the three hour trip from Woodlack to Morgan Hill to make sure his oranges were ready for his “regulars.”
People keep flocking to his canopied stand, tasting the free samples of orange juice. A boy of about 9 years lifts one heaving bags and starts to lug it for his mother who’s now handing cash to Balderama.
“I’m not trying to brag on Bill or anything, but everything we sell is always consistent,” Balderama says. “Everything always tastes the same – great.”
Freshness is what makes it that way, he believes. The citrus fruit are not picked from the tree until the Sun’s energy has done its magic on them.
“The fruit out of the store, a lot of the oranges that you find there are gassed,” he says. “They are gassed to make them go ripe.”
The gas is not good for taste, he says. Sunshine is the stuff that brings to life the flavor in fresh fruit and vegetables.
Doug Hayden, president of the California Farmers Markets Association which operates the Morgan Hill market, says people are becoming more aware of the need to eat healthier. And fresh fruits and vegetables – particularly those with no or very little pesticide residue – are an important ingredient in a life-affirming diet.
“The reason that people go to farmers market, it’s because they like the freshness,” he says.
Farmers often glean corn under the headlights of tractors the night before the market opens, he says. And tomatoes will come off the vine when they’re ripe, thus making a salad burst with flavor.
“It’s healthier because it’s been on the vine longer so it has more nutrients,” Hayden says.
Holistic medicine is now becoming more accepted in western society, so people are searching out freshness in their foods. You are what you eat, and the healthier you eat, the healthier you become, is the philosophy behind holistic medicine.
“The Chinese look at food as having energy or ‘Chi,'” says Gilroy’s Clare Buchanan who practices acupuncture as well as giving her clients advice on traditional Chinese medicine. “So when you’re eating a live fruit or vegetable, you’re getting the energy from that.”
Getting fresh with your fruits and vegetables can help people reduce the risk from potentially artery-clogging trans fats and other disease-causing food bad guys.
Fruits and vegetables are also filled with vitamins, minerals, anti-oxidants and other good plant chemicals.
“Fruits and vegetables are cleansing to the body,” Buchanan says. “They help take toxins out of the system.”
The fiber found in many fresh fruits and vegetables is especially useful in cleansing the digestive tract – acting kind of like a Roto-Rooter for the body. A clean lining of the digestive system allows more minerals and vitamins to pass into the blood system, thus improving a person’s health and vitality, she says.
Farmers markets are a good place to buy organic produce, but some supermarkets also supply pesticide-free fruits and vegetables, she says.
Nob Hill Foods, for example, has a section in its produce department for the organic produce shoppers.
“It’s not as big a selection and generally, it’s more expensive,” she says. “It doesn’t last as long either – there’s the trade off. But if you taste test it, the organic always tastes better.”
One reason people don’t eat as many fruits and vegetables as they probably should is because of the convenience factor, she says. Our society promotes a hurried way of life, and people not taking time to chop up the vegetables for a salad, for instance, gets in the way of healthy eating.
“It’s a time factor for most people – most people are so rushed,” Buchanan says. “That’s another thing with Chinese medicine: make your meals, take your time, slow down and chew your food.”
For people in a rush, drinking juiced fresh fruit and vegetables might be a good way to get those healthy nutrients conveniently, but Buchanan says it’s best to eat the fruits and vegetables raw.
“It’s probably better to eat three carrots than to sit down and drink carrot juice which is probably about 10 carrots worth,” she says. “Besides, vegetable fiber is reduce (in juice).”
Ultimately, Buchanan advises everyone to experiment with fresh fruits and vegetables and find the ones they really enjoy. Enjoyment of good-quality foods will mean sticking with them in the diet, she believes.
“It’s all about balance,” she says. “It’s finding the balance.”
And Morgan Hill’s Kam Khuzaie has achieved that balance. That’s why you’ll find him most Saturday mornings at the downtown farmers market.
“I like all kinds of fresh fruits and vegetables,” he says. “I am a fruit and vegetable nut.”
All the way to five a day
Dietitians with the U.S. government recommend eating at least five servings of fresh fruits and vegetables every day. Some people might say that sounds like a lot, but spread throughout the day, it can be done easily.
If you need time adjusting to the idea of eating five or more servings of fresh fruits and vegetables, start off slowly. Begin with one serving every day during the first week, two servings every day the second week, and so on. Five weeks from now, you’re well on your way down the dietary road to good health.
The benefits are immense. You’ll look better, feel better, and find your body is filled with a whole lot of energy to get through the day.
Here are some recommendations of where you can put fresh fruits and vegetables into your daily diet.
* Instead of coffee, drink freshly-squeezed orange juice (store-bought or homemade) with your breakfast.
* Instead of empty calories from chewy-gooey cookies or salty potato chips, snack on carrot sticks or a banana during the day.
* Skip McDonald’s junk food for lunch and make yourself a protein-based “fruit smoothie.” The recipe: put protein powder and water in a blender, mix well. Then add whatever fresh fruits in season you might fancy.
* Begin your evening dinner with a simple salad made with fresh produce. Weight-loss tip: instead of drenching it with calorie-laden dressing, give it a kick of flavor with chile verde salsa.
* If you’re barbequing, try adding a shish kabob of fresh onions, tomatoes, peppers and garlic cloves to sizzle alongside that steak.
