Why it’s Good to Eat Green

By Betsy Robinson, Regional Director of Dining Services for Pathway Senior Living

While eating green veggies is good, eating “green” benefits your body as well as mother Earth. Green eating means making food choices that have the least negative impact on the environment. Here are a few ways to make “green” food choices:

•Buy organic – with organic farming there are no pesticides used to contaminate the water or chemicals used to contaminate the air, plus it reduces pesticide resistance.

•Eat foods in season – when foods are not in season locally, they are often grown in hothouses. Food may not ripen as effectively in a hothouse as in a natural environment and as a result the flavor doesn’t develop as fully. Foods may also be grown in other parts of the world and shipped locally. In transit, the food is refrigerated to prevent rot, which tends to decrease flavor and nutrition.

•Choose locally grown food – the shortest distance from farm to fork often produces the tastiest food. For the best results, grow and pick the food yourself. You’ll know exactly what went into growing the vegetables and can enjoy them at their peak the day they are harvested. If gardening is not for you, then visit the local farmer’s market for fresh-picked produce.

Start Simply

As the head chef for Pathway Senior Living, I oversee our SenseSations dining program for over 1,000 older adults living at Pathway’s 14 senior living communities. I understand the challenges of “green” eating. If eating organic, seasonal and locally grown foods is daunting, you can borrow some simpler ways used by SenseSations to help your family eat more green:

•Serve fresh vegetables instead of canned, which can contain preservatives, artificial coloring and sodium
•Make sauces and marinades from scratch instead of buying ready-made, which often contain preservatives and other chemicals
•Use more fresh herbs to season food as they add flavor and nutrients to a dish and reduce the need for added salt
•Eat together! Cooking once saves energy plus we’ve found with SenseSations that it’s the complete sensory experience—smell of food cooking, taste of fresh-made dishes, sight of a nicely set table and sound of conversation—that nourishes the body and soul long after the meal.

Victory Gardens

In the summer months, Pathway chefs have access to select vegetables and herbs grown in participating communities’ Victory Gardens. Staff and residents get involved in planting, growing and harvesting the produce that is then prepared in the kitchen. They love to see what grows and eat the food right off the vine! See how green your family can be and how they too can benefit from growing a backyard garden.