Welcome to Fit to Be Real and a little extra.
It's September.
We made it.
I know.
I feel like I should be more excited than I am.
I want to say boo.
Why?
You love the fall.
I do.
But like I said the other day in class, I wish the fall was in the summer.
Yeah, I still don't understand that phrase.
Because I love fall so much, but I wish we had off.
Not that we have off in the summer, but I don't know just the feeling of the
summer in a fall attitude.
Put it on a t-shirt.
Everything I just said.
I can't because I I.
I want to boo September.
Yeah, because it's spooky season.
Yep.
But I want to yay October.
Oh.
Does that make more sense?
Sure.
Okay.
Boo.
I love the member at October.
How was getting the kids to school today for the first time?
They popped out of bed.
Will they do that tomorrow?
No, but they did today.
Well, because they have new uniforms.
Yeah.
It's the first day school.
They want to see where their desks are and who's in their class.
And that's all fine.
But then, you know, once we get in a routine, we'll be all right.
Even Lewis popped out of bed, which I was shocked about, but it is the first
day we'll see how tomorrow goes.
It's a half day.
The heck did they even do?
Oh, it's a half day.
Boo.
Well, let's get them through this horrible September.
Apparently.
That's not it.
That's not what I meant.
How do you get through September?
Food wise.
Because to me, September is well, September, September, October, and then
November before Thanksgiving, like it's apple cider donuts.
It's that's very specific time.
I guess it's the fall.
Just like all of the fall.
Yeah.
Like I already want to go to Linville.
Yeah.
I want to pick out pumpkins.
It's all too early and I'll never do these things.
But like that's that's the seasonal vibe.
Yes.
Like food wise too.
And I pumpkin seeds today.
You know?
Yes.
I love I love everything.
And all fall goings on.
Except for September.
So nothing you say makes sense, but let's get into it.
I'm Victoria.
Hey guys, I'm Carly.
Was I wrong?
Was I bad?
No, no, it was good.
Okay.
Yeah.
So what we want to talk about is that we're going to talk about
today is seasonal, but all seasons because it pertains to food.
So they're seasonal eating and it's not just like eating a lot
when you're sad in the darker seasons.
It's like the foods that are seasonal.
Like you ever, you know, I got a watermelon watermelon this summer
and I was like, Oh my God, this isn't like a good watermelon.
Really?
And I'm not picky.
I'm very easy.
I'll eat a pineapple all season long.
I'll eat tomatoes whenever.
Like I don't care, but I could tell that that was I was like,
this should be in season.
Whatever that means, right?
It wasn't really aware, but it didn't like taste the sweetest
than it wasn't like the juiciest.
And I think it's because we're getting out of that season for
watermelon.
I was going to say this is a stupid question, but was it not
watermelon season?
I think summer is.
But now we're in September.
But was it watermelon season?
Or was it watermelon season?
Well, it wasn't word or melon season.
That's what you say.
It's rather melon season.
I tend to not pay attention to any of that.
Like you go to the grocery store with some sale and produce is
produced.
They have a tomato all year long, but like apparently tomatoes
are seasonal and Jersey tomatoes are seasonal.
If you're in this area.
So that's what we're talking about today.
The importance of it, why you should eat seasonally and then
the benefits of it as well.
I can't wait because after researching this, I learned something.
Cool.
Can't wait to hear what you've learned.
I really did.
If I, if I talk higher, will you believe it more?
No, I think that means you're lying.
Like the higher you talk, the more you're like trying.
Right.
I really did.
That's why I talk down here.
And that's why I'm Carly.
She's losing her voice seasonally.
That's seasonal.
Yeah, that is seasonal.
So what is seasonal eating?
It's simply eating the food that was harvested by the farmers
in this particular season, whatever your season you're in.
So we're in September, but.
You know, this pertains to winter.
This pertains to spring.
This pertains to summer.
This is spring, this pertains to summer as well.
So you want to keep to the season when it comes to going to the grocery store
and buying, you know, the produce for your house that season.
Like how many times have I gone to the grocery store?
I eat avocados like it's my job.
That's not all your love.
I know.
And how many times have you or I bought avocados that either went badly
immediately or just didn't taste good?
Well, there's like a thing out on Instagram that's like,
have you gotten the rubber avocados?
Like they're selling fake avocados.
I know.
And I saw it and I was like, oh my God, people are.
But all five of the avocados that I had bought, I was like,
I can't cut through them.
I know.
And then once I was able to cut through them, I couldn't scoop them out
because it truly was like I could squeeze the avocado.
It was very weird because they were like making them in a, you know,
what's it called?
Like a laboratory.
Yeah.
Genetically modified avocados, I guess.
But like they're not telling you that.
Right.
Like there's a sticker that says like jam a lot of avocados.
Like I wouldn't buy them.
Well, it's just why there's no sticker.
I know.
And I am the queen of not looking at what's in season and just buying my
normal everyday foods that I eat all year long and I buy them all year long.
And now I'm learning that you shouldn't do that.
Well, one of the reasons that you should buy seasonally is because of the
nutrients within the fruit or vegetable in that season.
So when it's being harvested, we're going to go through like some of the,
not all because there are so many per season.
Like itemized fruits and vegetables.
So we're not going to list them all.
We'll link everything so you can read it yourself.
But the, you know, a seasonal avocado will tell you the season.
And the reason why you should eat it in that season is because it is denser in
nutrients and antioxidants and all the good things.
So when you eat them out of season, it doesn't have the same benefit.
No.
Like health benefit wise.
Which I didn't think it was that dramatic, but it is.
Every time you say harvested, I think about organs.
That's spooky season.
So you said it three times and it's all I can think of.
Organs.
I could never be a farmer.
I was walking the dog yesterday and the medical examiner drove by.
What?
That was the first time I ever experienced that.
Really?
Yeah.
I waited for them.
They were at the stop sign.
I was at the stop sign and I was like, oh my God.
Said Delaware County medical examiner.
There's a woman.
I was like, what's in there?
What's in your truck?
Can I see?
Oh my God.
Harvested organs.
Can you open it?
So.
Yeah.
Sorry.
I got us way off track.
We digress.
There was another thing.
I'm going to digress a little bit more.
There's another thing I just saw this morning on Instagram.
It was like one of those food for thoughts, like something to think about.
And it was, I think, trying to be funny, but at the same time it's one of those where
you're like, oh.
Yeah.
And it was like, so if there is a health food section of the grocery store, what does that
make the rest of the grocery store?
I was like, I feel like I know where you're going with this.
Yeah.
And I like laughed and I was like, haha.
And then I was like, oh my God.
There's only like one, depending on the grocery store, there's one or two aisles of organic
or natural foods and healthy foods.
And then the rest of the grocery store just like exists.
So what, if that's the health section, what's the rest of the store?
Yeah.
What does it mean?
Like it's the healthy.
It literally says on the sign.
I hate the word literally, but I just said it, but it says health food aisle.
I know.
At giant health food aisle.
And there's only one.
So should the other aisles be like, not as healthy, a little bit more healthy, could
be worse.
Like, I'm like the worst.
Yeah.
I like can't stop thinking about it.
Because I need, I need an answer.
I think it's called consumerism and capitalism.
I think you answered it.
The rest of the grocery store is unhealthy, even the produce.
And I'll talk, we'll talk about why, but like the produce that is not in season is
also unhealthy.
Yeah.
But go ahead, keep going.
Thank you.
That is food for thought.
Amazing.
So besides the actual nutrients that make in season vegetables and fruits more beneficial
for our bodies, it helps the economy, which I don't think, which is like, I know there's
so many people that think like this too, but I'm going to say it aloud.
I don't think about the farming aspect of it.
Like I don't go to the grocery store, look at the cilantro and like think, who cut this?
Where did this come from?
Like, who are they buying this from?
And then selling to, you know, I don't think of the process.
Right now you're bringing me back to science class in like fifth grade when we had to watch
those, for all you young people, they would roll in a TV on a cart and you'd get so excited
because there was a, not a flat screen, a regular TV with a VCR and they'd put in like
a farming video in science class and we would learn about agriculture and where our food
comes from before it goes to the factory and it comes from the front.
Like I'm picturing those old videos of learning about farming and I left it in fifth grade.
I left it there and I never thought about it again.
Because you weren't really watching it.
You were making those tri fold or four finger fold like pick a color, red, blue, green or
yellow and you go one, two, three, four.
That's what you were doing.
Yes.
Or you were doing the three lines and making it a mess.
And making it a mess.
Superman, S.
What was happening?
We're making a boxed house without picking up my pencil.
What?
You make a house with a square and a rectangle.
Like a single line.
Yep.
But you, you're not allowed to pick up your pencil.
But you can't go over another line.
Correct.
Yeah.
So I didn't learn about the farming aspects.
Right.
I'm, I'm going to say same Zs.
But yeah, it helps the economy because local farmers markets is where we should be buying
the seasonal produce and one of the easiest and like most obvious reasons wise, because
when you're at a local farmers market, media Pennsylvania has one every, I think it's every
Sunday.
I feel like every town has one.
I'm sure I'm sure.
And I think the cities do too, but media is what I can picture driving by.
And there are a few different local farmers at that market.
So they're all trying to outsell the other.
So they're pretty cheap.
Yeah.
And they're at a pretty good price.
And you're also supporting the local community and you're supporting the local farmers to
keep everything kind of flowing.
And I feel like I don't do that ever.
I was going to say enough, but I don't do that at all.
Right.
And I really want to do that.
And I think that's going to be one of my like fall goals is to try on Sundays to go to the
farmers market and get like really good tomatoes or really whatever, you know, whatever they're
selling.
So we go to produce junction pretty often.
And that maybe is the middle between the local food, like the local markets.
Then I think there's produce junction.
And then I think there's the grocery store.
Yeah.
The produce junction in our area is specifically produce and it is dirt cheap and in bulk.
So I do feel it's fresher.
But where does it come from?
I don't know.
And that's that I don't know.
We got to look into that.
Yeah.
And I don't eat as much as they buy for it to not go bad.
Right.
And neither can I.
That's why when mom goes, she splits it between the three of us because you can't eat that
many carrots.
And she brought over so much.
I was like, well, I can't eat all of this.
I know.
And this was like a quarter.
Well, I guess it's a third of what she split.
Yeah.
I was like, that's too much.
It's like the BJs are Costco of produce.
Yes.
Yeah.
Yes.
And it moves.
You have to like know what you want because they're like, hurry up because there's so
many people there because everyone's trying to do the same thing because it's inexpensive
compared to the unhealthy grocery store.
Yeah.
No soup for you.
No, you can't get soup there.
I think you get the things to make the soup there.
I don't think you can buy soup at the produce junction.
Sorry.
I keep cutting you off and you're telling us wonderful things.
Go ahead.
Thank you.
Another benefit of seasonal eating helps the planet, which you know I'm on board with.
Yeah.
I'm so, so you're not really on board with the planet on helping the planet.
No, I am, but I think you're better at achieving the goal of saving the planet where I mean
well and I want to do it, but you know, it doesn't always happen for me.
Well, I guess that's it's hard and sometimes it's inconvenient and sometimes it's more
expensive to do it that way.
Right.
So like, I'm not great either, but I think that's the majority.
So how does it help the planet?
Right.
Transportation.
That's the factor.
Because it, you know, if you think about where we're importing the food from the grocery
store, it takes a boat to get overseas to get on trucks, to be stored on trucks to drive
to who knows where, get to each location and as much as there's some jobs in terms of all
of those things that are helpful.
The transportation is a gas and oil problem.
I'm sure.
The carbon footprint of those transportation, they create the carbon dioxide.
So that's contributing to the greenhouse gases, which is contributing to climate change.
Yeah.
Do you just don't think about that stuff?
No, but if you buy locally, those local farmers, they're walking it into their own, they're
going to drive in a car.
Yeah.
Okay.
Yeah.
Okay.
One car.
One regular V6 engine.
One of the things from all of these bigger automobile planes, boats, whatever it is.
Isn't that crazy?
It's just such a ripple effect.
And that's just from because you wanted to buy a pepper.
I don't know.
Some peppers from the unhealthy produce section that isn't organic from the grocery store.
It's full of pesticides and salt for keeping it the nutrients in, which in turn, when there's
salt put on, you're taking the nutrients out.
That's like a whole hamster wheel.
Right.
Yeah.
Oh yeah.
I linger too long staring at the two options between like, do I want scallions that are organic?
Because they're how many cents more expensive per bundle of five?
Or do I just want to throw some of these regular, whatever regular means in my cart?
And I do battle between the organic world and the non-organic section.
But it's 100% about what you just said.
What makes it organic is what's being put on them, not necessarily like how they're coming
up from the ground.
Right.
And we also know that just because something says organic doesn't actually mean, like you
can put organic on anything.
Like I can get a tattoo that says I'm organic.
It would be a lie.
But they can do that on food.
We know that.
So there are as many health benefits as there are planet and economy benefits to buying
locally sourced foods.
I knew that, but I didn't really know.
Just like everybody knows things, but nobody in Victoria's words deep dives into it.
So once you start deep diving into something, I hate that those are my words.
You're like, oh, I should have known that and I didn't.
So what are some of the health benefits of eating locally?
Tell us.
Wow, I feel like you really want to know.
I do.
Safer consumption.
Locally grown foods.
Don't need to package their foods.
They literally bring them to the farmer's market, not in a package.
You're not getting the plastics.
Have you read?
Now I'm going to misquote this.
The micro plastic.
So we are consuming so much plastic internally and that is also from how things are packaged.
So you don't even think about that because you're ripping off the package of like the
mushrooms when you get home or you're ripping and it all has plastic in it.
And it sits in the sun or it sits in a truck or it gets into the food.
Or you're not unpackaging.
I was in a rush the other day and I got two bundles of cilantro and you put them in those
bags that you rip off the little spindle or whatever and then you bring them home.
And I usually take them out of those bags, put a paper towel around them, put them in
a different like container, ziplock but like an organic one and I didn't and I just threw
them in and I thought about the plastics because those little grocery store bags that you are
putting your produce in when you like hand pick the produce, not just like get a package
from them, you know, the packet tomatoes versus like putting plum tomatoes in the bag.
That has micro plastics in it and it soaks into just like that paper towel soaks up all
the water and the moisture from the cilantro.
All of the plastics are going into that moisture and then you take the cilantro out to go chop
it and use it even if you are rinsing it.
It's still in there because they've been seeping and like soaking in the plastic bag.
So those like really paper thin, thinner than paper plastic bags have so much micro plastic
in it that we are just like sponging into our food and then putting the food in our
bodies.
And but is crazy, crazy, crazy and not even with the fresh food.
Just think about when you get a steamable bag of frozen vegetables.
Oh yeah.
And you put it in the microwave.
I didn't even think about that.
Like, hello, that's something we should all be thinking of and I never do either.
You just throw the steamable bag of peas or corn in the microwave.
It's all getting in there and our bodies are filling up with plastic.
So by shopping local, they don't have to package it that way.
But a lot of them use biodegradable paper or cloth or something or they put it in your
bag.
Right.
You know what I mean?
Like you bring your own.
It's more expensive them to provide bags anyway.
So it just keeps all costs down and body cost down.
Oh my gosh.
It is insane.
And so also local farmers, they don't need the amount of pesticides and herbicides and
fertilizers that like a shipping farm would need.
And because of that, it's not getting into our food and that is one of the causes of
cancer.
It literally goes from it can give you headaches, pesticides to cancer.
I mean, the range is very wide.
Both are horrible.
Yeah.
And yes, the levels are very different.
But the small scale farms, they don't need to use as many chemicals.
I'm not saying no chemicals or pesticides.
I'm saying they don't have to use as many chemicals to keep their additives and the
flavorings and the preservatives in there.
They don't need to use all that kind of stuff.
It's so nasty.
I know.
I'm going to tangent or a side tangent a little bit because this is what's coming up
while you're saying this when it comes to packaging.
Because if you think about all of this produce that they're trying to keep fresh and putting
it on a boat to get it over here, like who knows where it's coming from, right?
But that's the process.
So they are spraying it with all this stuff to keep it safe.
They're putting it in boxes or whatever they put in it.
They put them on ships and what lives on ships rodents and bugs and a whole bunch of stuff.
It's the same thing.
I don't know if you remember this.
That a guy I was dating used to work for FedEx and pepper when pepper was a puppy and cats
do this too.
They would lick the box or the tape on the Amazon box or whatever it was.
And I'd be like, oh, it's keeping her occupied, whatever.
And he was like, I would never and I would wash my hands after you open those Amazon
boxes because I know what it looks like for them to sit in the warehouses.
You don't know what it looks like.
And the amount of rodents that crawl all over these boxes and then they get picked up and
put on a truck and then the truck drops them off at your house.
And the amount of gross that's on and surrounding Amazon boxes alone, let alone, where our produce
is coming from.
And that's just from like, what do you do?
You get scissors, you open the box, you put the scissors back.
But guess what?
Those scissors now have all this stuff from the tape and rodent feet walking around the
box.
And guess what?
My scissors sometimes that I open my Amazon boxes are the same scissors that I cut the
cilantro with.
Because if I'm in the kitchen, I just pull them out from the knife.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Scissors, like thing.
Ew.
Yeah.
Yep.
So that's what I think about on top of all this stuff too.
It's not even just the pesticides that they're putting right directly on the produce that
we are just putting in our mouths.
I'm not a big, I am now, but I wasn't a big producer or washer.
I put the bags of apples, I take the apples out, I put them in my basket and then I would
just eat an apple.
Yeah.
And I'm sure a lot of you are cringing right now, but we never washed.
You'd rinse it, you put maybe, maybe I would put it under water, go like this, now it's
a wet apple in my hand.
But I'm not soaking it in solution to get whatever's on the skin off.
Right.
A lot of people are doing that now.
I also feel like we didn't maybe growing up have to do it as much as we have to do it
now.
Yeah, that's true.
And I am guilty of this as well.
You know I like my grapes.
Sometimes I wash them and sometimes I don't and now after this I think I'm going to wash
them every time.
Well, maybe don't think.
Maybe definitely do it.
But sometimes grapes are like filmy too.
I know.
You can taste it.
You can taste it, you can feel it and I get very grossed out by that, but it doesn't really
like stop me.
Yeah.
I'm just like, I don't want to think about it.
I don't think about it.
But I think that's the problem is that we all do that.
I don't want to think about it.
I know.
And then it just like, it is what it is, it gets worse.
You know, what are we eating?
Love a good cotton candy grape, but like where did they come from?
Well, they're fake.
I know.
I, they're not.
I don't think earth's candy.
No, I know that.
And so you got to think about that when you buy them.
Not only are they $99.
I stopped buying them.
So did I for that reason.
Not, well the price is expensive, but like I was like, why did these taste exactly like
fake sugar?
Mm-hmm.
And I don't understand.
And so I, I'm, I'm doing my thing about it, but they are so good.
But the good thing about buying from a local farmer at a food market, you can ask them
to their face.
What do you put on your food?
Right.
You can't do that to a big market farmer.
But if you're at a local food market, I keep calling it a food market, local farmers market.
Yeah.
Same thing.
You can ask the person they're right in front of you.
How cool is that?
What do you, what kind of pesticides do you use?
Is it organic?
Is it less?
They know the answer, hopefully.
And the answer is usually yes.
Yeah.
Like, I mean, I can't say that, but I would venture to say at the farmers market, you're
going to get a lot of more natural remedies for bugs to keep the produce healthy than
them being like, oh yeah, we use braid.
Right.
Or like, we use braid.
I don't know.
What's the other one?
We would die.
What's the one that you spray on the weeds?
Oh, no, it's like illegal now.
Raid is for, I think, rats.
That's for rats, like bugs and stuff.
But it is illegal to use that weed killer.
And now I can't think of what the name is.
But they still sell it.
Okay.
I just Googled it.
It's called roundup.
That's what I was going for, not raid, but both are bad.
Roundup.
I don't think they're going to be like, oh yeah, we just, you know, we just use roundup.
So just wash them.
But here you go.
But there you go.
Roundup.
Oh my God.
All right.
Having said that, the next one is a shorter food supply chain.
So the locally sourced produce is usually picked within 24 hours of selling at the local
food market or farm to table.
So if this local farmer is selling to a restaurant, it is pretty much picked, but right before
it is being sold and right before you are eating it, which means there is less potential
for bacteria and contamination.
Less people are handling it.
It's not going through a factory assembly line.
Not as many things are touching it and it's able to ripen naturally instead of, you know,
putting it in a hot truck or putting it in a genetically modified sun so it can ripen
quicker because they need to get on the truck or, or freezing it and then having it ripen
after it's frozen.
So it's way less contaminated with all of that kind of stuff and the flavor is better.
Yeah.
I mean, there's no wrongs there.
So there are so many restaurants that are farm to table.
If you Google farm to table in your area, so many, I'm going to keep shouting out the
Peariah hospitality group because they are local farmers and they use their food in their
restaurants.
You can taste the difference too.
Yeah.
So you should definitely check them out in Kanchahakan.
They have a beautiful farm where they not only have a winery, but they grow their own
food.
So, and they have a CSA.
I was just going to say, look into CSA programs because the, yes, the fruits and the vegetables
aren't like, it's so ridiculous.
Shelf worthy.
Look, right.
Like Instagram picture worthy.
Right.
Like your pepper might have one more bump than it should, but like you can't put that at
giant or Kroger, so it, you know, goes to the reject misfit box, it's ridiculous.
You did their CSA.
You've done it for them.
I love it.
Didn't you do them perfect foods or something?
Yes.
I did.
Before they even had the Pearis even had their CSA.
I did.
It was like the fruits and vegetables that they wouldn't put on a grocery store shelf
because they looked bad.
Right.
But they got sent to you, to your home in a box for half the price.
So I got like the misshapen carrots that look like a body with hands or like a tomato,
you know, that just looked oddly shaped.
So you can also do that.
There are services that do that.
CSAs are great because you go and pick up a box of local food.
Like it's not at a farmer's market, but it's perfect.
It's inexpensive and you're supporting a local farm and you're eating clean food.
And Christina and Brian, we would love a sponsorship.
This is like our third episode we've talked about, the Peari Hospitality Group.
You can be, we'll do a commercial for you.
Give us vegetables or wine, you know?
It's your choice.
We'd like a box of wine as well.
So I agree.
I think what is the price cost to you?
Right.
Because it may be a little bit more expensive for a farm to table restaurant, but like,
what are you paying for?
Health.
You're paying for future.
You're paying for safety of, you know, the family members that you're bringing to that
restaurant.
And then you're also helping the community because if it's farmed to table, it's local.
It's not, it's not anything else other than that.
So something to think about.
I think the CSA boxes are pretty awesome if you can handle an entire box of vegetables
because sometimes it's too much.
Well, so I had a friend that said, will you split a CSA with me because I can't possibly
eat all of this stuff.
So we split a CSA that she would pick up and she just drop on my front door.
Which is awesome.
Yeah.
I don't know why I wasn't in on that, but that's fine.
So I think that's a great idea.
And then if you get bored with your food, which is what we talked about in our meal prep
episode, if you get bored with the same thing over and over again, those boxes, sometimes
you don't know what you're going to get.
So it's awesome to get something new, like a new turnip that you don't even know how
to use and you have fun in the kitchen again.
So there's so many other benefits to it as well.
So something to think about.
With the specifically, with the Pierre E.C.S.A., they'd always throw in homemade olive oil,
like a little bottle of olive oil or balsamic or something like that.
They'd always throw in something from their farm that was homemade.
That's pretty awesome.
And the last one is physical and social health.
So this might seem silly and you might be like, duh.
But by going to a local farmer's market, you're being active, you're walking around, you're
creating a community.
And if you're going all the time, you are creating a community.
It's a weekly routine.
It's a healthy thing to do.
You're meeting new people.
You're looking people in the eye, teaching your kids how to have conversations with
safe strangers.
Right.
And you're also learning things because all we want to do is continue to learn.
I mean, you're asking those farmers, hey, how do you grow your stuff?
I might want to grow tomatoes in my backyard.
What do you suggest I do?
Because are we going to take business from that person?
Probably not.
My tomatoes are not going to be like that local farmer's, but it's always good.
Well, I think the answer would be, oh, that's a lot of work.
You never mind.
Mine would be like, I am starting a garden for the apocalypse so we can survive.
How does one do this?
You won't survive.
Just accept it.
But you know, in a local farmer's market, there's coffee places.
There's maybe a little bookshop.
It's a totally fun two hours out of your day that you get to walk around and it's really
nice and there's local vendors.
And if nothing else, you're creating a community of like-minded, healthy people that all want
to know what you want to know.
I know that seems a little like...
It's not.
Don't say woo-woo.
I was just going to say woo-woo.
No, don't say it's not woo-woo.
This generation is missing.
That's the problem with the world.
Everyone just needs a hug and some like-
Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.
Like normal interaction.
Put the phone down, walk around it.
What I mean, picture it.
If it's a farmer's market for me, I'm like, oh, flannels.
Wait, I'm not allowed to say woo-woo, but you're allowed to say farmer's market flannels?
Yeah, like your flannels, you're in boots.
I don't know, it's fall.
You're probably going to pick up a pumpkin at the end of it or you got a bag, you have
a tote bag full of fresh vegetables.
You just talk to the nicest people who just want to sell something that they've made by
hand and harvested by hand.
The weather is beautiful.
You're going to hit the soccer game later.
There's just so much good energy from this whole experience.
Just even talking about it.
So making that part of your routine, bringing your kids around an environment like that,
there is no bad to it.
No.
There's no pro and con.
There's no con.
I just need somebody to follow me with a speaker playing the intro to Gilmore Girls and I will
have my Saturday set.
Where you lead?
I will follow anywhere.
Oh yeah, there you go.
You ruined it.
So like I said before, we're going to post links.
There's some pretty amazing links for seasonal fruits and vegetable lists that you should
absolutely navigate yourself because I now understand not everybody likes every vegetable
and not everybody likes every fruit and yada yada yada.
So it is just interesting to know what spring brings and what summer brings and what fall
brings to the table quite literally.
Good wine.
Thank you.
I just came up at the top of my head.
Through the table.
Spring.
Springs.
Apples.
Oh, avocados is spring.
Oh really?
So we're out of avocado season.
Yeah, who knew?
Bananas.
Bananas is spring.
Mm.
Garlic is spring.
Lemons, limes.
I would have thought those were summer because we used them summerly.
Yes.
Interesting.
I think they're the spring of their ripeness.
Maybe.
Mushrooms, onions, radishes, rhubarb.
And turnips, which I would have said is fall because that feels like plantaly to me.
Summer is also apples and avocados.
So good.
Okay, some of these have crossover.
Cross over.
I like that.
Blackberries, bell peppers, tannelopes, carrots.
Gotcha.
Okay, cool.
Mangoes.
Ooh.
Mangoes is a summer.
That makes sense.
Tomatoes.
Tomatoes?
I don't know.
Barbra.
Tomatoes.
Strawberries, raspberries, summer squash.
Cool.
Okay, fall.
Celery, collard greens, cranberries.
Ooh, that makes sense.
Peas, pomegranates, potatoes, pumpkin, radishes.
There you go.
That's good.
Winter squash.
So there's a summer squash and there's a winter squash.
Know the difference.
Sweet potatoes, yams, swiss chard.
You like swiss chard.
I love swiss chard.
I don't think I've ever used.
The only problem with swiss chard is when you put it and saute it with a little bit
of olive oil and garlic, it's like, it goes away.
It's like spinach.
It's like when you saute spinach.
Yeah, yeah.
You might be able to fill up an entire pan and by the time you saute it, it's like a
little circle in your palm.
There's nothing left.
So you have to buy a lot of it.
Yeah.
And I would get, I've done that with spinach where I'm like, it calls for how much?
Yeah, I know.
And then I put it in the pan and I'm like, it's going to overflow, but then all of a
sudden it's gone.
It's gone.
Like wait, what?
I know.
And then we got winter, which is beeps, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, also carrots.
So there's definitely a crossover.
Oranges, oranges is winter.
Leeks, kiwi, kale, herbs, kiwi fruit.
Yeah.
Okay, good to know.
Potatoes, pumpkin, rutabagas.
I don't use rutabagas usually.
There's some that I'm like, in theory I know about, but I've never actually like, that's
not part of my, so the CSA would be pretty cool because then you have to.
You have to.
Like why?
It's already here.
Figure out how to use it.
You paid for it.
It's going to go bad.
Yeah.
So definitely look at these links and lists.
All of them are USDA like government type lists.
So they're real.
It's not just me making these.
Victoria is like, what fruits and vegetables can I put in each list?
Like I get to decide.
But check them out because I think it creates a different dining experience at home for
many different reasons.
But one being like, maybe we're not eating the best version of these fruits and vegetables
that we can because we're just eating them when we want.
You know, and it's, I'm definitely not going off seasonally.
So I think that's going to be my fall, my fall goal.
I think it all contributes to everybody's overall health, well-being and like happiness.
You're putting good food in.
Your overall energy is going to be better.
And these little things, I know it's hard.
I know sometimes it's more expensive, but just like Victoria said, you want to pay for
an unhealthy meal now or you want to pay for doctor bills later.
Oh my God, I love when I see those memes or whatever, whatever Instagram posts where I'm
like, you know what?
I do complain about how much of fitness classes or how much, you know, good grocery store
at the time it was grocery store and it may change to farmers markets, but grocery store
like bill is when you leave with like all your produce stuff.
But insurance isn't going to cover your immune system issue that you have to constantly go
and figure out what's wrong with you.
Like those bills add up so much more.
And you don't think of that.
Of course you don't think of that in the moment because you don't realize that you're full
of plastic and pesticides and you didn't wash your fruits.
You know, it's like, it's a, again, it's a hamster wheel.
So I think if just like anything else, do a little bit of research and do a little bit
more than you're doing now, you don't have to completely change your whole lifestyle,
but do a little bit more than you're doing now and you'll be a happier person.
Yeah.
So let's get into some more tips.
I like when we talk about tips and then we're like, but, but wait, but wait, oh, but wait,
there's gotta be a better way.
I was just going to say that there's gotta be a better way.
So for your real tip of the day, I don't even know if it's a hundred percent true.
Yes, I love tips that start like that.
But one of the things I've noticed at the grocery store is that coffee is actually more
expensive now too.
Even like the shop right brand or the giant brand of coffee.
And you still go, I still look at the prices and I'm looking for the cheapest one.
So like right now I think a cheap one is like 8.99 or 7.49 something astronomical.
It feels astronomical for one pound of ground coffee.
And I don't look at like, I don't turn to the nutrition label or the ingredient list
for coffee.
I look at the packaging and I'm like, oh, that's got a vanilla bean on it.
And I also look at the price.
However, just like with farmers markets, there is local coffee companies and local, local,
which is also in quotes because we live in a not like coffee harvested state.
But look and do some research for your coffee because yes, it may be 12.99, but there might
be a reason that that coffee ground bag is better for you because it doesn't have all
these additive stuff and local.
And I think that makes the coffee taste better.
I know.
I've got one before I was like, oh, this is 11.99 or 12.99.
But I've heard of this company before and they're local or some sort of organic coffee
company.
And I was like, I'm gonna just try it.
My coffee was like, I didn't know coffee could taste like that.
A regular filtered black coffee.
Like I didn't think it was going to be as impressive as it was.
And yet could I afford 12.99 every time I need to buy a pound of coffee?
I don't know.
I think that's something to look into as well, just like you're going to look into
bettering your produce.
Look into your coffee because there's something there too.
I'm going to let you in, not Victoria because she knows, I'm going to let you all in on
a little side secret that Andrew has.
Andrew, my husband, his family owns a coffee company in Jamaica, which is crazy.
I've been there once.
It is on the top of the Blue Mountains in Jamaica and they've had it for 70 years.
They actually just sold it recently, but they make their own coffee.
His family only knows good coffee.
This coffee, you can taste the difference.
It's very expensive.
They only sell it to specific places that buy barrels at a time.
So you can't just buy a bag of his coffee at the grocery store.
They send barrels.
So when we go to his parents' house and we have their coffee, the taste is immensely
different and they ground it every single morning.
There are no beans.
That's like beans, whole beans or whatever.
It's beans.
So the coffee grinder is on all day long because they drink coffee all day long.
And you're constantly listening to the grounding of coffee beans and smelling coffee beans.
It is, I didn't know anything about coffee and I was like, I don't get it.
I can get coffee from a street cart in New York.
And Andrew was like, no, I don't think you understand.
Brown water I think, comparatively.
Yeah.
So next time you go up to Andrew, it'd be like, hey, how's that?
You're making Blue Mountain coffee.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
He'll just say, good.
So it's not really that exciting to go ask him, but you definitely should do it.
It's going to be a very short conversation.
You'll be like, oh, you know about that?
That's cool.
But yeah, I actually think at Farmers Market, you could get, there might be some coffee.
And tables.
Yeah, I think so.
So that's just something to think about.
So they used to sell it at a Farmers Market in upstate New York.
It would sell.
Okay.
That's that.
That is that.
And now for your real extra tip of the week, it's called Get Social.
What does Get Social mean?
Man, I'm so good at that.
Are you?
Yeah, I feel like I nailed it.
Get Social means there are some good uses for social media.
We don't hate all social media.
Like we always are complaining about.
No, no, no, no.
Get on social media and look up local farmers markets in your area.
Everyone is posting.
Everyone is trying to promote their locally sourced farms or their products or anything.
So go on social media, find your local farmers market and make it a point.
If you can't do it weekly, do it once a month.
Go to your local farmers market once a month and support the people in your community.
Get yourself out if you're a homebody and learn something new.
That's a good way to get out if you are a homebody because you're only going to encounter
some really nice people.
It's not the risk of like, oh, God, you know, which I don't know.
I can't think of a place that would make you feel like that, but it's definitely not at
the farmers market.
No.
So that all forced you to get social.
I like that.
Get social, get caffeinated.
And I hope, yeah, I hope you all learned as much as we did or maybe it's just like an
eye opening like, I kind of knew this, but now I like actually know it.
So now that we actually know it, let's do something about it type of thing.
Because once you get informed, then you have a choice.
Yeah.
You have a choice to make a change or you have a choice to sit on it and, you know, shut
your eyes or put your head in the sand.
So those are your options.
Welcome.
Happy Monday.
If you're listening to this at the start of the week, figure out what kind of person
you want to be.
It's September.
To be confused.
So per usual, we hope that you are fit to be real and always allowed to be a little
extra.
For legal reasons, we have to tell you that this podcast is meant for entertainment and
educational purposes only.
We are not healthcare professionals for all of your health, wellness, fitness and self
care needs.
Please refer to the medical professional in your life, your primary care physician, your
therapist, a certified coach, whoever it may be.
And then let us know what they say because I guarantee we need to know what to do.
Okay?
Okay, bye.