Resolving For a Healthier New Year? Design Your Own Organic Garden!

One of the most common New Year’s resolutions is to lose weight and become healthier. Unfortunately, for most people, diets fail in the long run. (1)

Instead of severely restricting what you can eat, consider making healthier options more accessible. A great way to do this is with your own home garden.  Fresh, organic food will be available right outside your backdoor. Here in the Tri-State Area, the growing season is longer than you might expect and a little freezing or canning will help get you through the winter.

With a home garden, you won’t just eat healthily, you’ll eat better.  Meals prepared with quality, fresh ingredients taste better.  Spending time selecting and harvesting your own fruits, veggies, and berries straight from the plants sure beats sitting in traffic and standing in line at the grocery store.  And kids are more likely to try foods they helped grow.  It’s a win-win for the whole family.

Still not sold? Consider:

Homegrown food is more nutritious.  After produce is picked, nutrients begin to break down. Most fruits and vegetables in supermarkets have been shipped from across the country or even from overseas. It then sits in distribution centers and on store shelves for days or weeks.  This can result in significant degradation of vitamins (90% of the vitamin c in some spinach, for example, can be lost within 24hrs of harvesting).   (2)

Local food promotes food safety.  The more steps between you and your food source, the greater the likelihood of contamination. (2) (4)

Homegrown food is (actually) organic. The USDA has admitted to not adequately overseeing some supposedly “organic” foods being imported from overseas.  When you grow your own food, you know exactly what’s being put on it. (5)

Growing your own food benefits the environment. Sustainable, organic methods and zero carb required for transportation means homegrown food is great for the planet. (6)

You get more variety.  Looking for something the grocery store doesn’t carry? With your own garden, you decide what you grow.

Homegrown food is more delicious.  Because it’s picked at the peak of ripeness right before being eaten, food from your garden taste amazing. (2)

You might be thinking this all sounds great but you just don’t have the time.  That’s where Homefront Farmers can help.  We offer a variety of maintenance plans and can build you a beautiful new garden if you don’t already have one (or want to upgrade). Get in touch—we’d be happy to put together a plan that works for your needs. You’ll be glad you skipped eating only half-cooked peas (or whatever the latest fad diet) and enjoy delicious and healthy food grown in your own backyard!

(1)http://newsroom.ucla.edu/releases/Dieting-Does-Not-Work-UCLA-Researchers-7832
(2)https://www.canr.msu.edu/news/7_benefits_of_eating_local_foods
(3)https://www.chicagotribune.com/dining/ct-xpm-2013-07-10-chi-most-produce-loses-30-percent-of-nutrients-three-days-after-harvest-20130710-story.html
(4)https://www.washington.edu/wholeu/2016/04/29/the-benefits-of-eating-locally-grown-foods/
(5)https://www.seattletimes.com/life/wellness/is-your-organic-food-really-organic/
(6)http://css.umich.edu/factsheets/carbon-footprint-factsheet