EatingWell July - August 2016

EDITOR@EATINGWELL.COM FOLLOW ME ON TWITTER & INSTAGRAM @JESSIEEATSWELL On Saturdays I sleep in. That is except for this time of year, when I bolt from bed, down strong coffee and race to the farmers’ market to be there when it opens. I beeline to Half Pint Farm’s stand, run by Mara and Spencer Welton. This year the Weltons are growing 412 varieties of fruits and vegetables. They squeeze all that into 2.5 acres in the Intervale, a fertile tract of land set aside, in part, as a space to incubate start-up farms here in Vermont’s largest city. When I get up close to their stand, I gasp. There are squash blossoms, cardoons, wonderberries, bursting-ripe heirloom tomatoes and bunches of basil. Google “11-year-old girl bumping into Bieber” and you’ll know what I sound like.…

FEEDBACK Before we demonize the meat industry for using too many resources [“How the Government Decides What You Eat,” May/June], how about we crunch their numbers against the snack food industry? Nothing says waste like using resources to produce nutritionally unnecessary, often harmful products like cookies and cola. At least the meat industry’s product meets actual nutritional needs. Wells North I have to tell you: I became disinterested in magazines 15 years ago when I fell in love with the internet. Then I happened upon EatingWell. I’m a new subscriber and LOVE your magazine. I learn something applicable to my life in each issue. Margaret Blickenderfer Flemington, NJ In Morsels, “How to Prep Celery Root” [Jan/Feb], the first picture takes the top off of the root. To me, that’s a big mistake. I hold the…

100: The number of Sumatran rhinos left in the world. Their only remaining wild habitat is in Indonesia—near rapidly expanding oil palm plantations, like this one. Most palm oil is produced in Malaysia and Indonesia, where plantations have been expanding into rain forests unchecked. In Sumatra alone, between 2000 and 2010, palm oil production destroyed 2,620 square miles—an area larger than the Florida Everglades—of rain forest, peat swamp, mangrove forests and critical habitat for endangered species like the Sumatran tiger. Palm oil is an ingredient used to extend shelf life and improve texture; it’s commonly found in instant noodles, ice cream, chocolate, cookies and bread (and even nonfood items like shampoo and lipstick). This oil’s popularity among food manufacturers in the U.S. can, in part, be tied to the research that linked…

Herbivores—specifically goats—trump herbicides when it comes to cleaning up yards overrun with weeds and brush. Goats, unlike other grazers, eat practically anything, including kudzu, thistle and even poison oak and poison ivy. In fact, goats can help eliminate invasive species down to just 20 percent coverage, according to research in the journal PeerJ. They’re typically cheaper and better for the environment than chemical herbicides, and herders estimate that 30 goats can clean up a quarter-acre in about a day. Ready to give it a try? Various companies now rent goats to help you deal with your weed problems. California Grazing maintains a herd of 2,500 goats (and 2,000 sheep) for yards in and around San Diego, Los Angeles and San Francisco. Rent-a-Ruminant is a Seattle-area company with 120 goats—many of them…

Minnesota sommelier Chad Stoltenberg of Locust Lane Vineyards was growing wine grapes on his 85-year-old family farm. But cold- climate grapes are often high in acid and low in sugar, which can be a challenge for winemaking. So he turned his grapes into a culinary product that would celebrate the acid: verjus. Verjus is a nonalcoholic grape juice that is slightly tart, with notes of honey and citrus. “As an ingredient, it adds acidity without becoming a focus flavor,” says Stoltenberg. It’s a great alternative to vinegar or lemon juice. Traceable to medieval France, verjus had a renaissance in the 1990s, bringing about the widely available Fusion Verjus from Napa. Now, there’s a rise of small-batch, boutique verjus brands, each with distinct flavors. Beyond Locust Lane, you can find verjus from Wölffer…

Road-Trip Sip And no, it isn’t coffee. Before your bags are even packed, you may be able to improve your driving skills by drinking Concord grape juice. In a new study from the UK, busy moms who sipped 12 ounces of the juice daily for 12 weeks had better driving performance and concentration in a simulator than those drinking a placebo. Study co-author Louise Dye, Ph.D., thinks the benefits may come from anthocyanins, a type of antioxidant found in Concord grapes, which may improve blood flow to a brain region critical for memory and learning. For the best pick, look for 100% juice with Concord grape juice as the first ingredient. —Julie Stewart LYFE Kitchen (Love Your Food Everyday) serves up free-roaming, antibiotic-free chicken, line-caught mahimahi and grass-fed beef. And responsibility doesn’t…