Loris Sofia Gregory, Healthy Kitchen Coach

Visualize bringing the jewel tones and earthy tastes of autumn to your dinner table. Beware: eating a cornucopia of deep reds, oranges, yellows and greens can lead to radiant optimum health. The USDA currently recommends eating at least four cups of red and orange vegetables per week and 1 ½ cups of dark green veggies for an average adult.The good news is that you most likely can’t eat too much FRESH & LOCAL. And your wallet and your waistline will breathe a sign of relief.

To invite more diversity, energy and health into your life, explore the whole colorama of vegetable and fruits delivered fresh each week in October from local Minnesota and Wisconsin farmers:

Orange, green & yellow squashes and pie pumpkins: Acorns and Spaghetti squashes offer a sweet nutty flavor, while the Buttercups, Hubbards, Kobochas and Turbans are richer in flavor. Butternut is similar in taste to a sweet potato. Consider the yellow-fleshed Delicata for flavor reminiscent of sweet corn. Consult the helpful chart above our squashes and try a new one each week.  The cute pie pumpkins from L & R Poultry and Produce are “New England Sugar,” a smaller variety with thick sweet succulent flesh. You can bake and eat like the squashes or make a super smooth pumpkin pie that will be eaten in no time.

Root vegetables including Yukon Gold and Russet potatoes, bright copper super-size Beauregard sweet potatoes, yellow and red Candy Apple onions and creamy horseradish root: Yukon Golds are less starchy and a little sweeter than the Russets. One colonial physician called sweet potatoes the “vegetable indispensable.” Their moist deep orange flesh is an excellent source of vitamins A and C, not to mention low in calories with zero fat. Candy Apple onions are much sweeter than a typical onion and are great eaten raw or to add amazing zest to any recipe. Folk medicine suggests a teaspoonful of fresh grated horseradish mixed with local honey to clear one’s autumnal nose in minutes.

Leafy and cruciferous greens, including broccoli, cabbage, kale, microgreens, dandelion and turnip greens: You can’t beat the high fiber, vitamins, minerals and proteins of the dark green veggies. Consider keeping a variety of greens on hand for quickly tossing into fresh salads, light steaming or blending into a green smoothie for a super jump start every day.

Don’t forget to eat a FRESH & LOCAL apple every day, Explore the tart, sweet, crisp and crunchy taste treats of our Cortland, Freedom, Haralson, Honeycrisp, Northern Lights, Sweet Sixteen, SweeTango and Zestar! apples.

Want more inspiration for eating FRESH & LOCAL in October?

1) Stop by my FRESH & LOCAL demo on Tuesday, October 11^th from 11 to 2. I will be handing out samples and recipes for “Spicy Squash & Lentil Soup.” Receive free coaching to create a FRESH & LOCAL healthy kitchen.

2) Sign up at least one week ahead for my FRESH & LOCAL class on Tuesday, October 18^th (6:30 to 8:30 pm). Call Customer Service at 952.891.1212, Ext. 221. Only $15 for members and $18 for non-members per class, take one class or the whole series that continues the third Tuesday of each month, including November 15 and December 20.

3) Keep inspired by reading this FRESH & LOCAL blog the first Wednesday of each month.

FRESH & LOCAL health coach Loris Sofia Gregory is based in Apple Valley. Explore more under “Classes” at lorissofiagregory.com and contact her directly at 952.431.5586 or lorissofia@frontiernet.net. She would love to hear your ideas and needs for eating FRESH & LOCAL.

FARM FEST is this Saturday, September 17, 2011, rain or shine! Come to the front lawns of Valley Natural Foods and enjoy all the activities, music and free samples from noon to 3:00 p.m.

While here, pick up your free coupon booklet  filled with valuable coupons! Come on in to the store and look for coupon tags placed throughout our shelves to  enjoy big savings on featured FARM FEST DEALS all weekend!

Check out our deli hot bar and enjoy $1.00 savings off every pound of hot bar items. A special menu will be featured on FARM FEST day, even a trifle bar!

Here’s a list of our FARM FEST partners, who will be here to show you what they do best. You will have the opportunity to talk to the folks from these local producers face-to-face and taste samples of many local products! Need a preview? Check out our online coupon page where we are featuring some of these local products produced by our FARM FEST partners! Online coupons good through September 20, 2011.

FARM FEST Partners:

Black Barn Bakery
Peace Coffee
Alakef Coffee
Organic Valley
Simplyneutral
Nessalla Kombucha
Harmony Organics
CoCo Kefir
Sunrise Creative Gourmet
Barsy’s Almonds
Wendel’s Bread
Wilderness Family Naturals
Anderson Maple Syrup
Kalona Super Natural
Whole Grain Milling Company
Ivy Farms
Beyond the Grain
Thuro Bread
Cedar Summit Farm
Shroeder
Down in the Valley Bakehouse
Phoenician
Down in the Valley Floral
Wisconsin Growers
LaBore Farms
Fine Leaf Farms
Sun Leaf Naturals
UAS Labs
Down in the Valley Meats
Hill & Vale Farms
Hidden Stream Farm
Ferndale Market
The Fish Guys
Albert’s
Geneva Meats
Bryn Mawr Soap Company

FARM FEST will be here in 11 days with a great line-up of local vendors and producers for you to meet face to face! Check out our online coupon page this week and look for coupons on items from a couple of our local partners: Kalona Super Natural and Down in the Valley Bakehouse. Coupons will be good through September 13, 2011.

Come to FARM FEST on September 17 and meet the folks who produce these fine products in person, along with dozens of other local partners! Many will be handing out free taste samples too! And, if you are really in to coupons, just wait and see what we will be handing out at our FARM FEST event! Stay tuned….

Valley Natural Foods is celebrating the local bounty of food and friends with FARM FEST 2011 on Saturday September 17, from Noon-3:00 p.m., rain or shine!

Everyone is invited to join us outside on the front lawns of Valley Natural Foods, right next to our Co-op Community Gardens. We will be joined by 50 local partners, including farmers, growers, roasters, food producers and distributors of local products. FARM FEST gives you an opportunity to meet our local partners  face to face.

Live Music, Activities and Prizes!

Dance away to live music performed by The Eelpout Stringers! Bring the whole family and join the Radio Disney Road Crew for some  awesome family fun. The Road Crew will be here from Noon to 3:00 p.m. with dance contests, games and sweet prizes! Visit the Valley Natural Foods booth and enter to win more prizes from some of our participating local partners! Enjoy Free Food Samples! Come take a tour our very own Co-op Community Gardens!

FARM FEST is the event you don’t want to miss. See you all there!

See FARM FEST details on our Facebook event page!

The recent USDA recall of 36 million pounds of ground turkey is alarming. Thankfully, the recall doesn’t include turkey products raised and processed by Ferndale Market, our Down in the Valley farm partner who provides Valley Natural Foods with fresh, locally-grown turkey meat. Ferndale Market’s turkeys are raised without added antibiotics and processed naturally without any additives at a USDA facility. According to research scientists, animals exposed to antibiotics may produce antibiotic-resistant salmonella, as stated in a recent MPR News article.

It’s a good idea to remember the basics when handling all raw poultry. Even naturally-raised turkey must be cooked to 165 degrees to remove the risk that’s always present with any undercooked meat. Wash hands with soap for at least 20 seconds before and after handling raw meats. Turkey and other meats should also be properly refrigerated or frozen and leftovers heated through. Make sure all cutting boards, knives and counter tops are properly sanitized after preparing raw meat.

What a great value to know where your food comes from! When considering ground turkey for a recipe, why not choose from a clean, local source?  For a delicious stuffed zucchini recipe using our fresh ground turkey, click here.  Enjoy $1.00 off one package Down in the Valley ground turkey, by visiting our online coupons. Coupon is valid through August 16, 2011.

by Loris Sofia Gregory, Healthy Kitchen Coach

August brings some of the healthiest peak pleasures of the summer.  This month gives us a dazzling abundant palette to tantalize our taste buds: the crisp greens of broccoli, cabbage, cucumbers, kale and zucchini; the succulent oranges and reds of beets, carrots, peppers, radishes, melons and tomatoes; the sunny yellows of sweet corn and summer squash, not to mention a fragrant riot of flavorful herbs.

Satisfying meals and optimum health are not the only benefits of eating a rainbow of our FRESH & LOCAL produce. You are also supporting 25 Amish families who comprise the Wisconsin Grower’s Cooperative. These farmers of rural Black River Falls and Mondovi use horse-drawn plows and hand tools to provide Valley Natural Foods shoppers with some of the highest-quality produce grown in the Midwest. Most of the farms are certified organic and all grow their produce to organic standards. Nourishing their soil and growing crops without pesticides is a time-proven way of life for these farmers, while supporting health for themselves, their farms and our shoppers.

Al Weinrich, former logger and neighbor of one of the families, serves as the cooperative’s sales and delivery man. Al only delivers farmer-satisfied produce. Hand picked fresh the day before, stored on ice and delivered twice a week to VNF, buying produce from these farmers enables parents and children to work side by side in their fields while making a living. Wisconsin Cooperative Growers exemplifies sustainable agriculture at its best and is proof that small family farms can still thrive.

The best medicine for our fast-food culture is as close as a kitchen brimming with FRESH & LOCAL food. Gather family and friends for a satisfying summer picnic of life-sustaining local food and conversation. As author Barbara Kingsolver has noted, “Food is the rare moral arena in which the ethical choice is generally the one more likely to make you groan with pleasure.” What’s fresh, local and inspiring in your kitchen right now?

Look for this FRESH & LOCAL blog the first Wednesday of each month and be inspired by our FRESH & LOCAL class series starting on August 16. See class details on our Facebook page and sign up by calling 952-891-1212 ext 221 or by stopping by the customer service counter.

Loris Sofia Gregory is a holistic health coach and writer based in Apple Valley. Explore more at lorissofiagregory.com and contact her at 952.431.5586 or lorissofia@frontiernet.net.

Looking for coupons? Save $.50 on one lb. minimum purchase of  local candy onions, save $.75 on one lb. minimum purchase on local cucumbers and $3.00  on our  August FRESH & LOCAL class purchase with online coupons! Coupons good through August 9, 2011.

Looking for some FREE farm fun to do this Saturday? Head down to Cedar Summit Farm for MILKAPALOOZA 2011 on June 25, 10:00 a.m.-3:00 p.m. Enjoy music, petting zoo, pony rides and other activities for the entire family. You will also have the opportunity to meet local cheese artisans, beekeepers and other small producers. Lunch will be available for purchase from The Wedge co-op. There will also be a farm tour led by the Minar Family, who produce our favorite Bent River Camembert-style soft-riped cheese. (You can learn more about this cheese in the June/July issue of This is Living Naturally newsletter from Valley Natural Foods.)

Cedar Summit is located only 45 minutes from the Twin Cities at 25830 Drexel Avenue, New Prague, MN 56071, Phone: 952-758-6886

Admission is Free to MILKAPALOOZA. Don’t forget to sample Cedar Summit’s NEW DRINKABLE YOGURT!

Cedar Summit is also on the Eat Local Farm Tour on July 30th sponsored by 9 Twin Cities co-ops including Valley Natural Foods! Check out the details!

This week’s recipes celebrate 2 of the harvests of high summer. Blueberries and summer squash are abundant this time of year, and there’s no better time to eat them than right now! Like most produce, the vitamin content of these items decreases dramatically when they are not used fresh!

In northern MN, late July means berry-picking time. Blueberries start to ripen about now, dotting the forest floor with tiny blue delectable treats. Blueberries are a very good source of vitamin C and fiber. Added to wild rice– another native crop of northern MN—blueberries make this week’s salad a stand-out addition to any summer meal. Top the salad with a refreshing orange vinaigrette dressing, either pre-bottled or that you make yourself!

As any gardener knows, summer squash plants produce an abundant harvest. We are getting in new local varieties everyday. Try the standard green zucchini, or mix it up with little yellow Patty-Pans or multi-colored Zephyrs. While they vary in color and size, most summer squash carries a similar mild slightly-sweet flavor. (Even the tender squash blossoms are edible. If you’re lucky enough to have some, toss a couple on top of the sauté). Summer squash are notable sources of B-vitamins and folate. This weeks’ recipe is a simple summer favorite that pairs well with almost any summer meal.

Click here to see this week’s Produce Possibilities recipe!

Click here to see all the Produce Possibilities Menus!

The recipes in this week’s Produce Possibilities features 100% local produce as well as local sunflower seeds and cheese.  Not only is the cheese local, but the milk comes from cows that are grass-fed. Grass-fed milk is unique because it has been shown to have consistent higher levels of ALA and CLA than conventionally produced milk. Both of which promote heart health, and in the case of CLA has been shown to considerably reduce the risk of cancer and heart disease while promoting immune system health.

Another Important note about the salad recipe is that it uses dandelion greens as a main leafy vegetable. Some may think of them as mere weeds, but according to the USDA Bulletin #8, “Composition of Foods” (Haytowitz and Matthews 1984), dandelions rank in the top four green vegetables in overall nutritional value. According to this data, dandelions are nature’s richest green vegetable source of beta-carotene, from which Vitamin A is created, and the third richest food source of Vitamin A, after cod-liver oil and beef liver! They also are particularly rich in fiber, potassium, iron, calcium, magnesium, phosphorus and the B vitamins, thiamine and riboflavin, and are a good source of protein. Next time when you think of dandelion greens as just a weed, think again.

You are invited  to experience the taste at our demo kiosk this Saturday, July 10, anytime between 3:00-5:00 p.m.

Click here to see this week’s Produce Possibilities recipe!

Click here to see all the Produce Possibilities Menus!

Many people envision healthy nutritious eggs to be those raised organically or naturally with free-range pastured hens, but have you ever thought about what happens after the eggs are collected?

Recently some alert members spotted an article on this very topic and were concerned by what they read.

Eggs need to be porous, allowing air to pass through to the inside of the egg so that it can breathe, yet at the same time the egg is protected from bacterial invasion by a natural waxy coating called the bloom.

Commercial industry practice is to wash eggs thoroughly. On the surface this appears to be a positive thing, but as they say, the devil is in the details. Unfortunately, this washing removes the bloom, opening the egg to infection. To compensate for this, commercial industry practice is to replace the bloom with a mineral oil coating. More unfortunately, mineral oil is a petroleum-based product that can penetrate the porous egg shell. The International Programme on Chemical Safety (IPCS) states, “exposure to mineral oils should be kept to a minimum.”

Valley Natural Foods offers organic eggs from two providers: Organic Valley and Schultz Organic. According to Organic Valley, their “shell eggs are never washed or sanitized with chlorine, and they are never oiled.” Instead, the eggs are “washed with a soap approved for organic use. The eggs spend less than one minute in the wash process. After being washed, the eggs travel through a rinse section, and into an air dry section.”

If you’d like to go one step further, consider this from Larry Schultz: “Our eggs typically reach the store before they are over a week old. We do not use any oils, chlorines, lye, peracetic acids, or sodium carbonates. Our eggs come to the store as clean and natural as we can with nothing applied.”

So if you like healthy fresh petrochemical-free organic eggs, stop by our dairy department for the best eggs nature can provide!