This Week at Smart Markets Manassas Park Farmers' Market

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I learned so much when reading Folks, This Ain’t Normal by Virginia farmer Joel Salatin, and I would like to share some of his wisdom with you.

You are lucky to have an alternative to commercially produced eggs at our market—Wicked Oak is your egg purveyor. Early in his own awakening, Salatin had his eggs tested for a variety of nutrients as well as cholesterol and compared those totals to commercial eggs.

The numbers for vitamin E, vitamin A, beta-carotene and foliate were many times higher for his eggs, and the measured amounts of cholesterol and saturated fat were much less. In fact, it was a little hard to believe that the measurements were for the same food, especially since the USDA would like us to believe that all eggs are pretty much the same. What this means is that in this country 98 percent of us are now buying and consuming thin-skinned, elliptical replicas of real eggs that seem to be good only for overdosing us on cholesterol.

Salatin’s book inspired me to do even more to encourage you to buy more local produce and meats throughout the year, if for no other reason than to make up for the nutrients we are losing when we are forced to buy some items from the grocery store in the winter. Most of the dairy, vegetables and meats in the store are not really food anymore, and even the baked goods and prepared foods are so “stabilized” by chemical additives that they too have lost their wholesomeness on the way to the supermarket shelf.

In the next few market updates, I will provide you with more data and suggestions for easing into a healthier diet. Salatin has 5 "doable suggestions" for you, and each week for the next four I will include one for you:

And especially kids’ lunches. If you are not going to change your own eating habits, you can at least begin to introduce your children to healthier foods. I wish we could help you with the milk and dairy at this market, but we will continue to work on it. In the meantime, visit the market and see what happens in the fall. Peaches give way to apples, pears, and plums; tomatoes and melons give way to great greens, winter squash, and the vegetables called crucifers: broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, and others. And if you decide to take Salatin up on his challenge, you can buy just about everything you need at the market right now and pick up some recipes to help you out.

Watch this space for more wisdom, advice and tools to change your life.

See you at the market!

From the Market Master

If someone has something to say about a subject dear to my sensibilities, and probably yours, I am happy to refer you to that other source of wisdom rather than try to pick and choose what I think is important for you to know. Read this revealing firsthand account by Joel Salatin of a meeting that took place in Virginia about farm policy in the state. I figure anything he takes away from any learning experience is well worth knowing. The fact is that what he heard in that meeting is something I have never considered and frankly do not really agree with either. Read and draw your own conclusions.