Eat Healthy, Be Happy | March 2, 2020

Fresh & Local:

Eat Healthy, Be Happy

National Nutrition Month was initiated in 1973 as National Nutrition Week, until it became a month-long observance in 1980 in response to growing interest in nutrition. Good nutrition doesn’t have to be overwhelming. Even small changes can have a big effect - every little bit is a step in the right direction! You can start by eating a variety of nutritious foods every day, from all of the food groups - eat the rainbow. Planning out your meals each week can help keep you on the right track… so you’re not pulling through the drive-thru last minute. Plus, it’s easy to shop for healthful foods at the farmers market. Load up your bags with fresh fruits and veggies and use this opportunity to purchase items that have been minimally processed or are preservative free. Then you can prepare tasty, nutritious meals at home and get your entire family involved in the kitchen! A happy family is a healthy family!

Picks of the Week:

Bean Madness

The Beans are back! Bean Madness is the Krewe of Red Beans annual charity event! 32 chefs and restaurants compete in a tasting tournament modeled after basketball’s March Madness to see who makes the best red beans in New Orleans. This year, we are one of the non-profit partners and can earn money through the purchase of brackets! Wanna support us and possibly win lots of restaurant gift cards + a gift package from the Krewe of Red Beans? Visit redbeansnola.com and make your predictions (choose us as the recipient of your donation too!). It’s a fun way to support the Krewe of Red Beans, Market Umbrella, and local food! The bracket will be available until Sunday March 15th when the first round takes place.

This year we’ll host taste test battles at the March 12th Mid City market and the CBD March 14th market. See you there!

Get Your Gardens Ready

With spring just around the corner, now is the perfect time to get your garden on. Growing your own food is a healthy, fresh, and economical way to get your veggies. Gardening AKA “dirt therapy” is also a great way to get some exercise, fresh air, and sunshine. Our friend Kiki Fontenot at the LSU Ag Center literally wrote the book on it - find the Beginner’s Guide to Growing Vegetables and Herbs here!

Hot Plants and Jim Mizell sell plant starts at many of our market locations. Additionally, the New Orleans Public Library offers a seed library as well as other resources on gardening how-tos. Don’t have your own plot of land or space on your patio? You can find a community garden in the Greater New Orleans Area via this link: gogreennola.org/communitygardens/. Happy gardening!

School Breakfast Is Out of this World!

This week marks National School Breakfast Week (#NSBW20). The school breakfast program was launched in 1989 by the federal government for all K-12 students to have access to a nutritious school breakfast and today more than 14 million children participate in this program daily. Studies show that children who eat school breakfast are more likely to:

• Reach higher levels of achievement in reading and math
• Score higher on standardized tests
• Have better concentration and memory
• Be more alert and maintain a healthy weight

As we enter the post-Mardi Gras season, now is the perfect time to get those kiddos back into a breakfast routine and get a jump on a beneficial habit before the end-of-year testing season gears up. When more kids participate in the program, school lunch stigma is reduced and schools have greater buying power and can purchase more healthy local food.

Vendor of the Week:

Hot Plants

Ian Willson formed Hot Plants through a combination of urban farming, garden cultivation, and education. Their plants are “grown with spartan love so that they may survive the slings and arrows of the Southeast with relative ease once they are let into the world.” Besides providing the community with edible, herbal, and medicinal plant startups, Hot Plants’ nursery provides advice on how to grow. You can find ‘em at our Wednesday Bywater market, Thursday Mid City market, and Saturday CBD market (and soon Bucktown!). In addition to selling at CCFM, Hot Plants operates a small nursery in the Upper Ninth Ward that is open most Sundays from 12-5pm. Ian Willson is also the Dirt Nerd, featured monthly in Antigravity Magazine, so you can check out his musings and guidance there.

Tuesday’s Green Plate Special:

Kinoko

Welcome back Kinoko to the Green Plate Special every Tuesday in March. Kinoko is a sushi pop up that focuses on plant based sushi and Japanese cuisine. Chef Kelseay Dukae offers a creative and healthy take on sushi, using ingredients such as jackfruit for “sneauxcrab” for her spin on the traditional crunchy roll. Most recently, she was a contestant on the Fox Network show, Masterchef, owned a health food concept and ran a sushi bar here in the city and is now back to curating pop ups. Kinoko translates to mushroom in Japanese, so expect this mushroom lover to present an interesting twist on mushrooms and sushi!

Recipe of the Week:

Camellia’s Famous New Orleans Style Red Beans

We were born to bean. It’s Monday so let’s get Bean Madness started with a NOLA tradition - red beans and rice. This Camellia recipe is simple, delicious, and versatile for customization. Make a big pot and invite ya mom’n’em over.

What’s your favorite dish to make after visiting the Crescent City Farmers Market? Share your recipes with us on Instagram or Facebook or even Twitter and it might be featured in our weekly newsletter!