I'm not a big football fan, but once in awhile I enjoy watching a Packers game or the Super Bowl with friends or family. I mostly just enjoy it for the chance to sit around on the couch for a few hours, and to eat snacks, and to spend time in good company. Sometimes I wish I could get more excited about what's happening in a game, especially if I'm with friends who take it seriously. But I'm the one who gets up to help myself to another handful of maple spiced nuts while everyone else is glued to some game-changing event. And when that friend who always makes the maple spiced nuts (you know who you are!) slams her hand down on the table and starts yelling advice to the players on the TV, then I know the Packers messed up. Oh well, if there's a veggie tray with maple cream cheese dip to eat from, that's enough to keep me happy.
The times that I want to holler and throw my shoes at the TV are when I listen to commercials for pharmaceutical drugs. One in particular comes to mind, although I can't remember what drug it was, which is probably for the best since I have no real authority to critique the pharmaceutical industry. I think it was some preventative drug to help maintain heart health for middle-aged folks, or something along those lines. The point is, I was livid at the way the drug company portrayed diet in their commercial (in particular, eating vegetables) as ineffective. They showed a piece of kale and said wouldn't it be great if a piece of kale could keep you healthy. But since it can't, you should try our simple pill instead. Just one pill can keep you healthy...blah blah blah.
But WAIT. That's a pill you have to take EVERY SINGLE DAY. Of course it can't be compared to one piece of kale. Neither one bite of kale or one pill are a silver bullet to maintain your health. Not one single anything can do the trick. Maintaining health, whether through food or drugs, is a daily, repetitive act. One of the best approaches to a healthy lifestyle is to use food as medicine; this means that healthy food, especially vegetables, needs to be consumed every single day, just like the drugs so many people bet their lives on. This organization from Minnesota is a great resource for more ideas about Food as Medicine. (If only they were also Packers fans, then they'd really be living right!) You can't swallow a bottle of pills and expect to be healthy forever, and you can't devour a whole tomato plant and expect never to get sick again. In fact, either of these actions would probably send you to the ER.
A healthy life requires making a habit of good eating. And one of the best ways to make a habit of eating vegetables is to become a member of a vegetable farm! An Old Plank Farm membership ensures that you have nutrient-dense vegetables in your fridge every week during our 20 week harvest season. And, as our members tell us, having our vegetables in their fridge makes them much more likely to eat well every day.
I'm not a doctor, and I can’t say for sure that we can get rid of pills just by eating vegetables. But I do think it's the best place to start. So instead of throwing my shoes at the TV, I'll put them on and get back to being your farmer.