Where is your food from?

Lessons learned from a partnership with GluteNo, one of my favorite places to eat in Budapest! …

As a health focused cafe and panini bar, GluteNo is committed to delivering fresh foods from the farmer to your plate. This idea of “farm to table” is not new, but you may be wondering what all the talk is about.

 

Why is it important to know where your food comes from?

 

The answer is scary to think about. Put simply, we need to know where our food is coming from in order to avoid ingesting chemicals and hormones and pesticides that may be harmful to our health. By choosing to eat food that is produced locally and not chemically altered, we choose better health for our bodies and minds.

 

Food is being touted as the new medicine by many sources. Research has firmly demonstrated that the food we eat is just as important (if not more) as the pills we take, the exercise we do, and the amount of sleep we get. Without proper food intake, all of these other things aren’t as effective at impacting our health. A quality, nutritious diet is the missing puzzle piece to solving a variety of health problems.

 

The panini I ate at Glute No last week included bread made in house… salami and goat cheese from a local farmer… and fresh peppers and tomatoes grown just outside of the city. Whether you are stopping in at Glute No for a panini made from the produce of regional farmers or preparing your own lunch at home, keep these 3 rules in mind to eat with your health in mind:

 

1. Ask where your produce is from… When shopping at the farmers market near you, inquire if your tomato is from your area or from halfway across the world. Locally produced fruits and vegetables almost always receive less chemical treatment and more quickly move from the ground to your plate.                                                             
2. For those fruits and vegetables you buy at the grocery store, consult this list of which foods are worth the price of organic. Foods like spinach, very high on the pesticides and additives list, is always best organic.
3. Learn to cook according to the season. Find out what fruits and veggies are produced near you and find delicious seasonal recipes at http://www.healthyseasonalrecipes.com/ or by reading an excellent cookbook about healthful eating according to the season such as “Earth to Table: Seasonal Recipes from an Organic Farm.”

 

Deciding to pay attention to where your food is coming from and what sort of treatment it receives between the farm and your table is sometimes not easy to do. You may need to spend more time reading the labels on your produce at the grocery, asking questions at the farmer’s market or cafe, and thinking critically about your food choices. But you only have one body, after all. So it’s worth the extra effort to invest in your health!

This blog post was produced in partnership between Taylor Geiger LLC and Glute No, a health focused, gluten free panini bar and cafe in the center of Budapest. For more information about Taylor, click here. For more information about Glute No, click here.