This week's Pathfinder Produce market will feature a
special celebration in honor of the market's second anniversary and the observance
of World Down Syndrome Day (3-21) just
a few days early. We hope that you'll be
able to join us at the market this Thursday, March 19 from 2 to 5 p.m.
To thank our loyal customers, the market will extend a 5%
discount on purchases and offer several door prizes. The market staff will be preparing several tempting
recipes for sampling (see below), and at 3:21 p.m., we'll be ringing the Village
bell 21 times, in honor of our friends who live with Trisomy 21, the
triplication of the 21st chromosome and the genetic expression of Down
syndrome.
We are also running a social campaign, Show Your 21, to create a video; we
invite our market patrons to show their 21 in support of people living with
Down syndrome by submitting photos of you wearing the official DS colors of
blue and yellow, arranging 21 items in interesting ways, or posing with a
friend who lives with Down syndrome. You
can submit a photo to me at lgrace@pathfindervillage.org
before Thursday to have it included in our video (to be shown on our Facebook
page and our website).
At this week’s market, our friendly staff will be showcasing
an avocado salsa,
as developed by our friends at the Ithaca-based Moosewood restaurant. With an avocado base and crunchy additions of
peppers and onions, this recipe is sure to be a flavorful hit at any meal. This recipe calls for cilantro … some adore
this ingredient, while others have a gene, according to The New
York Times, that makes this addition taste like soap. (Julia Child hated cilantro).
Until I started writing this blog, I always struggled to
serve avocados (they turned into green mush) but through research from an
earlier post, I am now confident in preparing these dark green orbs of
deliciousness. Your avocado should be a
just a little soft. Take your knife and
cut lengthwise through the fruit, going around the pit. Then gently twist the halves in opposite
directions and separate the halves. Use
a spoon to pry out the pit, and use your knife to cut wedges lengthwise. Then, holding the half firmly, scoop out the
slices with the spoon. No fuss, no
muss.
The market staff will also present an easy and quick
vegetable stir fry with zucchini, yellow squash, green beans, peppers, onions,
mushrooms, garlic and soy sauce. This seems
like a delicious preview of our growing season at the Pathfinder 5210 Hoop
House: The Otsego Academy students and
vocational program members have our starter beds all planted, and seedlings are
already poking up their bright green leaves.
Stir fry, typically thought to be inspired by eastern cooking,
sounds like it would fit right in to a Mediterranean diet – the foods common around
the region that was the historical crossroads of African, European and Asian
cultures. The Mediterranean diet is rich
in fresh fruits and vegetables, nuts, legumes, unrefined grains, fish and olive
oil. It minimizes dairy, red meats and
saturated fats. It also includes an occasional
glass of red wine (cheers!).
This diet has received lots of press attention lately
because of its potential health benefits – improved cardiovascular health and weight
control. A December
news story shared that researchers from Brigham and Women’s Hospital and
the Harvard Medical School found the diet helped people live longer. The study reviewed data gleaned from nearly
5000 middle aged women involved in the Nurses’ Health Study, an ongoing study
that has tracked the health of 120,000 American nurses since 1976.
The study, led by researcher Immaculata De
Vivo, found that the women who consumed foods and used cooking methods from the
Mediterranean diet had longer telomeres, which are the tips of chromosomes that
prevent DNA strands from fraying. Shorter telomeres are present in the cells the
elderly, cancer and liver disease patients, smokers, those who are overweight,
or those who have conditions related to inflammation. (Drinking sugary drinks also can shorten your
telomeres … another great reason to switch to water).
More recent stories continue to point to
positive results from the Mediterranean diet:
One story
on research at Germany’s Gottingen University Medical School suggests that a diet close to
the Mediterranean diet (modified by switching out other healthy oils for olive
oil, but still focusing on fruits and vegetables), indicates that it can help
people lose weight and keep it off. And the
American College of Cardiology will soon issue
study results from a 10 year study conducted by Harokopio University in
Athens, Greece, which indicates that adults who closely follow a Mediterranean
diet are 47% less likely to develop heart disease in comparison to those who do
not follow the diet.
Until next time, Show Your 21, and eat well to
protect your telomeres,
Lori
