Diane tried out a new market with local and planet friendly claims this week with mixed success. While she’s found a great new place for meat she’s still looking for a mecca of healthy fruits and vegetables. We thought we’d pass the experiment along to you. Try shopping somewhere that offers a range of local, sustainable or organic food and see how you do.

My husband and I took a summer trip to New York City. In Union Square we stopped for lunched and dined al fresco overlooking the Farmer’s Market. I don’t remember what I had, but my husband had this dish. It was amazing. I couldn’t wait to try it at home and I’ve served it twice now at dinner parties, always a hit! A great summer dish.

I’m reading Savor: Mindful Eating, Mindful Life by Thich Nhat Hanh and Dr. Lilian Cheung (affiliate link). It splices together nutrition and Buddhism Hanh a well-known Buddhist Monk and Cheung a Harvard-trained nutritionist look at the layers of overeating both from a scientific perspective and from a philosophical one. As I’m reading this book all I can think of is, why didn’t someone do this sooner?

Now, at least in the Northern Hemisphere, is one of the best times to do a dry run on eating local. Fresh fruits and veggies are in abundance and it’s easy to hop down to your local farmer’s market or grocer and find an honest to God cornucopia of choices. BTW local means grown or raised within 150 miles of your current location. If you want to go hardcore use 100 miles.

Farmer’s Markets aren’t what they used to be. Once the domain of the purely earthy-crunchy, now Farmer’s Markets are thriving with people from all walks of life participating. They’re often crowded and you might have to endure a bit of jostling to get at the good pile of tomatoes. Here’s some tips for navigating your local venue.

Eating locally is a way of life for some and an almost impossible dream for others. Can you eat locally in all climes? Yes, except for the extreme cold regions and maybe even there with a whole lot of planning. I live in New England in the US and I was happily eating local for most of last summer until the local produce stopped.

This is much harder than you think! We turn to fast food without even realizing that’s what we’re doing. The vending machine, the quick sandwich stop for lunch, the drivethru window because we’re late getting from point A to point B. See how long you can go without any fast food at all.

The Slow Food Movement is flourishing in the US, Europe and around the world. It’s actually just how we used to eat, before processed and fast food became the norms.

I love this time of year, strawberries are in abundance and it’s a great time to try your hand at making some jam and canning them.

I picked this book up expecting to make fun of it. Two California babes lecturing me about why I didn’t have a Hollywood body. I quickly realized that was not the case.