I have to admit that I was a little confused when I first saw the natural food market at the Farmer’s Market in Seattle. After all, berries are a common sight on the show floor, but I was expecting to find a more natural market.
Well, most natural food markets are as natural as they get, so naturally I was a little confused. That’s because berries are a little tricky.
A good natural food market will have local farmers’ markets, produce stands, and a farmers’ market section. I have to admit that most of my previous natural food market visits were during my early morning walks through Seattle, but I’m now beginning to see the beauty in more natural places. The Farmers Market is the best place in Seattle to find good locally grown produce because its a huge market.
What I find so amazing is that it seems like most of the produce we see is grown in Seattle, but that it is growing in other places too. In the Seattle market we saw rows and rows of strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, and more. The other amazing thing is that we actually saw berries! I had to take some home to my daughter because she wanted to taste some. What a great reminder that our food is natural and organic.
That’s probably why we’ve made it our mission to buy organic produce too. It’s not just a “we’ve got a bunch of organic produce in the fridge” issue. It’s a “we can eat that, no matter what happens to the earth”, because in the end, it’s all about the food we put on our tables.
We’re not totally convinced that organic is the best option for us. We have found that the produce that has the most natural flavors and that seems to be the most “organic” usually has the lowest pesticide usage. But we can’t just buy it and eat it. It needs to be properly treated to avoid contamination.
There are a lot of misconceptions about how to properly treat organic food. One is that you are supposed to use organic produce at least 10 days before eating it. But the USDA actually advises that organic produce should be eaten immediately after harvest. That means that if your food was organic in it’s last harvest, you should eat it right away. However, there are a lot of foods that don’t need to be refrigerated for that amount of time.
The key to properly treating the organic food you buy is to treat the produce with the right amount of liquid per serving. For that we’re going with a berry flavored syrup. The amount of liquid varies depending upon the size of the berry, the freshness, the quality, and whether or not it has been exposed to heat. The most reliable way to determine whether or not a produce is fresh is to check with the USDA.
One of the most reliable ways to determine freshness (and quality) is to check with the USDA. This is one of the reasons why I prefer organic produce because I can ensure that the produce has been exposed to only the right amount of heat. This is why I love berry flavored syrups like berry natural food store because I can ensure that the produce has been exposed to only the right amount of heat.
Some berries have a tendency to go moldy or turn moldy on their own. They also tend to be more expensive than the regular food store produce you buy at the supermarket. I prefer to buy my berries and other produce at the natural food market because I can guarantee that the produce has been exposed to only the right amount of heat.
