My visit to the farmers’ market this weekend!

Today I went to Evergreen Brickworks Farmer Market in Toronto to buy some local, organic and delicious fruits and vegetables. This market has more than just gorgeous produce. In fact you can buy everything from natural soap to granola, mustard, goat or sheep milk products (great for those with cow milk intolerance) and more.

Here’s what I made with yellow tomatoes and incredibly fragrant basil I bought — bruschetta!

If you would like to see what else I bought from the market, please watch the video below.

I hope it inspires you to get out of the grocery store and visit a farmers market!!

Shopping at farmers’ markets is not only ooooodles of fun, but it helps you and your family to foster a deeper connection to your food. I really encourage you to talk to the farmers who you purchase your food from. They always have great tips and will tell you if they picked that basil just this morning

In case you missed my segment a couple of weeks ago from the Global Toronto Morning show, host Dave and I visited Brickworks. In the video, I share tips to make your farmers market visit more joyous. And I’ve listed more of them right here: http://www.joyoushealth.ca/2012/06/25/10-farmers-market-shopping-tips/

And lastly, I mentioned in my youtube video the importance of purchasing the Dirty Dozen foods organic because they have the highest level of pesticide residues and that’s after they’ve been washed or peeled. Here are the list of 12 foods you want to always buy organic, as per the Environmental Working Group:

1. Apples

2. Celery

3. Sweet bell peppers

4. Peaches

5. Strawberries

6. Imported nectarines

7. Grapes

8. Spinach

9. Lettuce

10. Cucumbers

11. Domestic blueberries

12. Potatoes

And here is the list of the “Clean 15″ — fruits and vegetables that have the least pesticide residue.

1. Onions

2. Sweet corn

3. Pineapples

4. Avocado

5. Cabbage

6. Sweet peas

7. Asparagus

8. Mangoes

9. Eggplant

10. Kiwi

11. Domestic cantaloupe

12. Sweet potatoes

13. Grapefruit

14. Watermelon

15. Mushrooms

The chronic health effects of pesticide intake as per Chensheng Lu, an associate professor of environmental exposure biology at the Harvard School of Public Health, said the toxins appear to be connected to a prevalence of diseases, including cancer. And some studies suggest pesticide intake, especially in the prenatal stage, can cause neurological developmental problems in infants, Lu said.

“Knowing that this chemical is designed to kill (certain) organisms, you have to be careful ingesting it,” he said.

This is a very powerful statement. And one of the many reasons I purchase organic as often as possible.

Have a joyous weekend!

Joy

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Joy McCarthy, Registered/Certified Holistic Nutritionist (CNP, ROHP, RNCP), and Health Coach of Joyous Health, loves to inspire others to eat well, live well and be happy.

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