Eating food that is fresh and locally grown can have a plethora of benefits for\u00a0both your health and the environment. Thankfully, Southern California has\u00a0an abundance of farmer\u2019s markets to take advantage of year-round.<\/p>\n

When\u00a0we eat foods that have been grown locally, it can actually help cut down on\u00a0environmental pollution. Since the food has not had to travel as far as other\u00a0produce that may be flown in from another state, or even another country, less\u00a0fuel and resources are used. As a bonus, this fact can often make shopping at\u00a0farmer\u2019s markets more affordable since the produce is likely to be cheaper due\u00a0to an increased abundance of a particular food when it is in season. If you are\u00a0looking for an extra deal at your local farmer\u2019s market, try shopping in the last 10-15 minutes of the market when farmers frequently discount produce so they do\u00a0not have to load it back up on their trucks.<\/p>\n

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Additionally, when we eat produce that is in season, it is being picked when it is\u00a0ripe which maximizes flavor and nutrient content. Flavorful fruits and vegetables\u00a0often lead to increased consumption, which can impact an individual\u2019s health\u00a0positively.<\/p>\n

Last weekend, at the fabulous Torrance Farmer’s Market<\/a>, I picked up some produce that isn’t available year round… okra and bitter melon. Okra is a southern favorite. While many of my California friends have never even heard of it, I can’t remember a summer growing up that I did not eat it. All you have to do is boil it, cut the ends off, throw on a dash of salt, and there you go! My only disclaimer is that if you don’t like “slimy” foods, this may not be your best bet. I think they are delicious! On the other hand, it was my first bitter melon experience. We actually talked with a fellow market goer who gave us some tips on how to prepare this fruit. We learned that cooking bitter melon will make the taste a bit milder. But let’s be honest… a bitter fruit is not what I am used to eating and I have since heard this is an acquired taste. I am planning to make this recipe from the Bitter Melon Council<\/a>\u00a0the next time I see them at the market.<\/p>\n

Check out your local farmer\u2019s market this week and see what\u2019s in season. Other foods that are harvested in the fall include mushrooms, grapes, garlic,\u00a0apples, endive, and figs.If you\u00a0are not sure what markets are available in your area, check out www.ccfm.com\u00a0for a complete list of all the Certified Farmer\u2019s Markets in California.<\/p>\n

Have you ever eaten Bittermelon? Please share how you prepared it…would love to learn different ways it can be prepared.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Eating food that is fresh and locally grown can have a plethora of benefits for\u00a0both your health and the environment. Thankfully, Southern California has\u00a0an abundance of farmer\u2019s markets to take advantage of year-round. When\u00a0we eat foods that have been grown locally, it can actually help cut down on\u00a0environmental pollution. Since the food has not had […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5,141,215],"tags":[142,27,143,50,144,145,87,131],"class_list":{"0":"post-756","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-cooking","7":"category-featured","8":"category-recipes","9":"tag-bitter-melon","10":"tag-california","11":"tag-environment","12":"tag-farmers-market","13":"tag-fruits","14":"tag-local-food","15":"tag-okra","16":"tag-vegetables","17":"entry","18":"has-post-thumbnail"},"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lorizanini.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/756","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lorizanini.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lorizanini.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lorizanini.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lorizanini.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=756"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/lorizanini.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/756\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3412,"href":"https:\/\/lorizanini.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/756\/revisions\/3412"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lorizanini.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=756"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lorizanini.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=756"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lorizanini.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=756"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}