Get Fresh.

Yes, this is my homage to you, Becky

Support your local farmers, I say.

One of the things that impresses me about gorgeous European women, like this lady here,
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and gorgeous European women who remain gorgeous after having kids, is that they do not just give up and eat at McDonald's three times a day, or have unhealthy lifestyles because "they just don't have the time" to get ingredients to fix a meal themselves or get themselves to places where food is freshly made. They they eat seasonally by getting their seasonal fruits and veggies and meats several times a week, drink their water regularly, and allow small pleasures to the process of bringing food to the table. And they eat out where the food is made thoughtfully. Think, artisanally-made food.

I've been hitting up my favorites spots for fresh food, particularly vegetables at The Union Square Farmers Market. Some of my favorites--

- For chilis, Eckerton Hill Farm, Virginville, PA
- For bread (okay, at $5 a loaf, it's expensive, but it's organic, and tastes like real bread, the kind you imagine could be a stand-alone food and would have been served to you in the Middle Ages), Rock Hill Bakehouse, Gansvoort, NY
- For organic produce (look at the mesclun line goooooo!) including zucchini florets, Windfall Farms, Montgomery, NY [I spotted a very well-dressed woman stealing from this stand last week, I couldn't believe it]
- For jumbo antibiotic-free, free-range hen eggs and free-range poultry, Knoll Krest Farm, Clinton Corners, NY

Non-specifically, since we first arrived in New York, we get apple cider from the apple cider and apple pie folks who sell the apple chutney/salsa and hot cider for $1, maple syrup tainted with ginger or organic peaches from the Vermont Maple company, sheep's cheese from the only sheep's cheese stand there (there are a few goat ones, there, though), and buffalo jerky for Napoleon (not organic) from the Buffalo meat guy closest to the New York Film Academy side of the Square.

Eating fresh supports your local farmers, who, like the Union Square farmers, may not have contracts with Whole Foods directly across the street. You help bring accountability to your table (I'm talking to you, spinach industry) by getting to know the farmers, their products, and their craft.

Finally, farmers markets can be educational. A is studying Incan culture. "Mom, did you know that Peruvian potatoes are the size of a baby's fist?" We picked up purple Peruvian potatoes along with my supply of la Rattes. Farmers don't mind talking about their craft, and the bee man at Union Square might show you one of his secret Manhattan rooftop hives.

*Photo credit: The Sartorialist. Click on image to find out what Giovanna does for a living. Jealous, me.