This season’s Biggest Loser featured an episode where the contestants were invited to the White House to visit First Lady Michelle Obama’s vegetable garden. They plucked and harvested lush and supple items that were brought back into the White House kitchen, where everyone was put to work to learn and prepare a presidential salad, which they could easily recreate and incorporate into their everyday meal. What a fun idea!

And this is no wimpy vegetable garden that Mrs. Obama cultivated with her own two hands, nope - it’s a garden Martha would be proud of, showcasing 55 varieties of organic vegetables, from arugula to spinach, chard, collards, kale, and a colourful array of lettuces including red romaine, butterhead, galactic, and red leaf. There are also berries and herbs and two hives of honey to boot. She had some super helpers, too. In fact, 23 grade 5 students from Bancroft Elementary School, along with her own family, helped her build this healthful garden.

But good things are not only growing in Washington - it is a healthy movement that is gaining remarkable steam all over North America.

Not too long ago, my mother gave me a pot of peppermint. It’s an easy herb to maintain, which is good for someone like me who live a big-city, small-condo life with limited space to play with. But peppermint is so easy to cultivate, requiring very little TLC to bring a fresh zest to the air. It gave me the boost of confidence I needed to start trying other herbs and small plants, and I love the feeling of adding green to my home! I realized that the more greens I have growing in my humble abode, the more proactive I’ve become reearching recipes online that I could try.

I also have a colleague who participates in a local community garden, where she has her own corner to plant her vegetables. And there are hundreds of thousands of these communities peppered throughout North America. You can get connected and learn more by contacting community-supported agriculture programs (CSAs) about how to get involved. And if you have a nice plot of land in your backyard, you might want to consider starting small and trying something simple like I did.

In any case, growing a garden may not be everybody’s cup of tea, but you can still support local foods by buying and shopping at farmers’ markets, local cheese shops, or your local butcher. Even large commercial supermarkets now have organic sections and aisles that make shopping for local and organic foods easier for you. You could also build seasonal recipes into your everyday meal preparations, adding fresh varieties that will keep your family healthy and happy. Also, check out Foodland Ontario’s recipe and seasonal foods database for some exciting meal ideas.

Foods that are grown locally are really the better way to go. They are fresher and taste better. They require less chemicals and pesticides to produce and transport and take less toll on the environment. They are even safer for you, as less steps in food handling means less risk for contamination. Local foods support your local economy and give you a sense of community, and if you grow your own garden like the first lady, you can enjoy and reap the fruits of your labour!

All this fresh food talk is working up a mean appetite! Tonight’s menu: baked peppers stuffed with mushroom, onion, shrimp, and cabbage. With the exception of the frozen shrimp, all other ingredients are grown right here in Ontario - bon appetit!