Perfect Pumpkins for Food Day 2014!
Last year’s Food Day featured fresh local apples. This year we decided to highlight Pumpkins… you might have one sitting by your front door right now! But first, what is Food Day? Food Day is a national event that encourages us to celebrate the fresh, whole, local foods that keep us healthy and reminds us to think about where the food we eat comes from. Now, think about that pumpkin by your front door… do you know where it came from? It started with a seed and a caring farmer. !
Did you know that those little pumpkin seeds provide our bodies with a good bit of fiber, protein, healthy fats and a bunch of minerals, like zinc, phosphorus, and magnesium? All of these things help our bodies grow and work properly. After the farmer planted the seed in the nutrient rich soil, it grew into a vine and on that vine grew a pumpkin, which grew, and grew, and GREW! The flesh of some types of pumpkins can be eaten, but most often it is cooked and then canned. Pumpkin can also be roasted, and boy, is it delicious! Pumpkins are known as “Super Foods” because they are high in fiber, potassium, vitamins C and E, and antioxidants that help fight disease! Perhaps when you carve your pumpkin this year, you could put a little cape on it! Don’t forget to roast those nutritious seeds and have a Healthy Halloween!!