Fruits And Vegetables

"Eating healthfully is expensive," a reader says. "If we run out ++ of fresh fruit or vegetables before the week is out, we can't afford to buy more.""Just charge it," my kids would reply, "then you won't have to spend the money."But moms and dads know there's no free lunch. And more and more people are learning to stretch those dollars to cover the basics.Be sure to use your entire fruit and vegetable arsenal, and get the most nutrition for your food dollar.* Know your requirements: According to the Food Guide Pyramid, you need 2-4 servings of fruit and 3-5 servings of vegetables daily.

Too much fat. Too much sodium. Too few fruits and vegetables. Not enough of certain vitamins.Sounds like a meal at the local pit beef stand, doesn't it? Unfortunately, the above description is taken from a U.S. Department of Agriculture report on school lunches nationwide.The study released last month found levels of fat and sodium in school cafeteria fare that far exceed the government's dietary guidelines. In another recent study of children's eating habits, the consumer advocacy group Public Voice for Food and Health Policy said 57 percent of youngsters ages 6 to 11 eat less than one serving of fruit daily, and 32 percent eat less than a serving of vegetables a day.The federal government has too long ignored or pooh-poohed these bad habits.

Marking Chinese New Year with food that brings luck Ring in the Chinese New Year on Saturday with Asian food that tradition says brings good luck and happiness. The kumquat symbolizes prosperity, the coconut stands for togetherness and green onions represent intelligence. Won tons are served to guests as a blessing for fortune, and Asian noodles are served to represent long life. These items and many hard-to-find fruits and vegetables can be found at www.melissas.com, a company specializing in produce from around the world.

Throughout my childhood summers, a crop of cucumbers dangled from my grandmother's fence. Even when I was a toddler, a pick-your-own trip to her back yard was the highlight of any visit. I could wash and eat that cuke, skin and all, while it was still sun-warm and juicy.I've been a cucumber addict ever since.For me, cucumbers make a salad. Their sweet, delicate flavor eased my transition from iceberg to the stronger-flavored salad greens.And when my parents' garden produced fresh cucumbers, our family indulged in a delicious, fat-free, simple-to-make cucumber and onion salad:Peel and thinly-slice any available cucumbers.

WASHINGTON -- If there is a major theme in the federal government's latest nutrition advice, it is to eat more fruits and vegetables. But politics and budgetary concerns have prevented the government from taking its own medicine when it comes to a program that is supposed to provide crucial nutrients to poor women and children. The U.S. Department of Agriculture is weighing a proposal to add fruits, vegetables and whole grains to the food packages that are offered in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children, known as WIC for short.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture's new dietary chart shows that you should eat more grains, fruits and vegetables and less meat, fat and sweets. The new pyramid-shaped chart replaces a health wheel that advised people to eat meat, breads, fruits, vegetables and dairy products in basically the same quantities. After the meat industry raised objections to the pyramid a year ago, the department spent almost $1 million and questioned 3,000 people in five cities but changed little except the design.

Color them nutritious.They're foods whose natural hues -- you might call them nutricolors -- often signal a rich concentration of important nutrients. Selecting daily from these color groups will contribute to healthy eating.Example: Red, orange or deep-yellow vegetables and fruits frequently are loaded with vitamin A. Eat some of these every day and you'll get lots of this vitamin without having to think too hard about it.We've come up with four nutricolor groups: red-orange-yellow, deep green, brown, white.