Arbour Realty puts on a class with Whole Foods’ resident nutritionist Amanda Louden.
Are you scared to go to the farmer’s market or join a Northern Virginia based Community Sustained Agriculture program because you think it is going to be a big hit to the old wallet? I love going to the Courthouse Farmer’s Market and getting some great tomatoes, but sometimes the prices tend to stipulate how many of those bad boys I’ll be taking home. It seems we need to assess what is valuable in our lives. What is really important to us? Health, comfort, money? Usually all of these things come into play when we are thinking about our lifestyle and our budgets. You want to know a secret though? You don’t have to spend a whole lot of money in order to buy healthy, whole foods. I thought that it would be a great thing to host a class for our friends and neighbors throughout Arlington and all along the Orange Line so we could all learn together about what it means to eat sustainably on a budget.
Whole Foods Market of Clarendon partnered with me to put on a fantastic class for the community. With the recent addition of Amanda Louden, who just moved to Northern Virginia from Northern California, to the Whole Foods Market Health Starts Here
program, I thought that this was a perfect time to start a dialogue about eating sustainably while keeping our budgets in mind. Amanda was very clear about her intention to help folks shop in a way that is sustainable for their health, environment and pocket book- the triple meaning of eating sustainably!
Here are some of the key take aways from this very informative Eating Sustainably on a Budget class:
- Look for actual whole foods. This means whole beans, whole lentils, whole grain rice in their pure form. When you are eating whole foods, you are eating foods which still have the bulk of their nutrients and they are not only easier for your body to process, they are also healthier for you!
- Don’t waste! You can certainly compost your organics, but if you have a carrot that might not be the best for a salad any longer, freeze it and use it for a soup or even in your crock pot! Amanda mentioned that if you see it frozen in the freezer isle, you can definitely freeze it yourself.
- Buy foods which are locally produced and harvested; this will mean that you are buying foods that are seasonal. Usually foods that are local and in season will taste better because they will be at their prime, and you will be getting more nutrients from them.
These are just some tips to get started. Hopefully, we’ll be hosting some other informative classes with the awesome team at Whole Foods Market of Clarendon. Stop by and see Amanda; she notes that “if you find a vegetable that you’re not too sure how to cook,” bring it to her and she’ll find you a great, healthy, sustainable recipe to get you started eating sustainably on a budget! If you are interested in any other topics, feel free to tell us and we’ll see what we can do to organize another community lecture.
