In this issue:
Happy Thanksgiving
GG on TV
A fresh take on potatoes
Contact us
Past issues online
Happy Thanksgiving
Happy Thanksgiving from
the Goodness Greeness team! We hope you and your
family enjoy this celebration of the harvest.
In last week's
newsletter, our feature was "Thanksgiving with Organic
Produce". This article presented shopping tips and
some ideas for using organic fruits and veggies in your
holiday menu. If you missed it (and still have time to
try some of these tips for the holiday), check out this
article in our
newsletter archive.
GG on
TV
Over the next week,
Goodness Greeness appears in two TV spots. First, on
Monday, November 28, our leader Bob Scaman appears in an
interview on the 9PM news on WGN-TV. The topic of this
news clip is moving to a healthier diet with organics.
Second, on Thanksgiving
day, the recent Farm Aid concert will appear on INHD cable.
Goodness Greeness played a important role in the events
surrounding Farm Aid (see Issue # 36,
Farm Aid 2005) and we look forward to reliving the
concert with Willy Nelson and crew. See the
broadcast announcement on the Farm Aid site for more
details and for the broadcast schedule.
A fresh
take on potatoes
Potatoes are basic to the
American diet - the average American consumes 130 pounds of
potatoes each year. Yet, despite this, potatoes often
get a bum rap.
Due to the way they are
usually prepared and served (for example, with fattening
toppings or mashed with lots of butter or french-fried and
heavily salted), potatoes are not usually associated with a
healthy diet.
However, if you look
beyond the popular (and negative) images of potatoes, you'll
find that this bum rap is definitely undeserved. In
fact, potatoes, especially organically grown potatoes, are a
surprisingly important ingredient in a healthy diet.
Let's explore the potato
scene and determine the role that potatoes can play in your
diet.
New
varieties
Over the past few
decades, many new varieties of potatoes have been
introduced. These new varieties focus on improved
flavor, color and shape and are all "designed" to add
sensory appeal to your dining experience.
In addition to the
traditional white and russet (baking) potatoes, we now have
potato varieties that have:
red or blue
skins,
creamy golden flesh with a buttery flavor (like Yukon Gold's),
an all-blue flesh,
unique shapes, like fingerling potatoes
These new varieties have
quickly become popular, because they are more interesting
than the traditional white potato in look and in taste.
Goodness Greeness provides all of these varieties - they are
available from us at your local organic produce market - and
they are in great supply this week.
A fresh
take
The bum rap about
potatoes that we mentioned above comes from misinformation
as well as misconceptions about the nutritional value of
potatoes. In fact, potatoes are inherently healthful
and can play a key role in a healthy diet. Let's take
a closer look at this nutritional value. Potatoes:
1. are a source of
complex carbohydrates, essential to "good energy",
2. are a great source
of potassium (essential for muscle building and nervous
system response to stimulation),
3. are a great source
of vitamin C (important for healthy tissue and for
healing wounds),
4. are a good source
of vitamin B (important for healthy red blood cells and
amino acids)
5. contain iron and
important trace minerals,
6. provide highly
digestible protein,
7. are a great source
of dietary fiber (especially in the skins),
8. are low in sodium,
with no fat and cholesterol.
Wow, I'm impressed.
Note: Most of the
nutrients in potatoes are in the flesh and not in the skin,
despite what you may have heard. The skins, however,
are a good source of soluble fiber, so leave the skins on
whenever you can - its easier and it holds in the nutrients.
A brief
comment on pesticide residues
The Environmental Working
Group (foodnews.org)
published the results of their research into the presence of
detectable pesticide residues on conventionally grown (as
opposed to organically grown) fruits and vegetables.
These results highlighted twelve "most contaminated" with
residual pesticides of the fruits and veggies tested in
their research:
apples
bell peppers
celery
cherries
imported grapes
nectarines
peaches
pears
potatoes
red raspberries
spinach
strawberries
They strongly recommend
using organically grown sources for these twelve items as a
means to reduce your intake of potentially harmful
pesticides.
For more on these
results, supporting data and research methods, see
www.foodnews.org/reportcard.php.
A few
tips
Store potatoes in a dark,
cool area (42 to 48 degrees F is ideal) whenever possible.
They can be refrigerated for awhile, but if it is too cool,
they'll lose some flavor.
Store potatoes out of
direct light - over time, the skins turn green in direct
light and this can make the potatoes inedible.
Here are three sites that
provide a nice variety of potato tips and recipes:
Recipes and cooking tips
(Washington State Potato Commission)
www.idahopotatoes.com
(Idaho Potato Commission)
WholeHealthMD.com
Contact
us
You can find
a broad selection of organic potatoes as well as a rich variety of
organic
fruits and vegetables from Goodness Greeness at your local market.
Email us
at
newsletter@goodnessgreeness.com if you can't find them and we'll help you
locate them.
Past
issues online
As you know if you've
been reading this weekly newsletter each week, there is a
lot of information provided on organic fruits and vegetables, their
nutritional qualities, availability, shopping and
preparation tips, as well as some recipes.
You can now access most of
the past issues of Organics for you on our web site (www.goodnessgreeness.com).
Click on the Newsletter link at the top of any page on the
site. There you'll find a quick index to most of the past
issues.
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