A trip to Greece provides the perfect opportunity to analyze the famous Mediterranean diet in situ  while eating fresh, locally sourced ingredients.  It is a pleasure to see communities cooking meals without “big box” Superstore grocery stores nearby.

On islands such as Naxos you will come across small local stores with dried herbs available for sale in baskets.  What a refreshing change from the bottled presentation in your local Safeway! In many ways this Greek food tradition is similar to the marketplace spice sellers you find in countries such as Barbados.

In contrast to the food traditions of Greece, a visit to a suburban, North American grocery store yields an array of tightly shrink wrapped and bottled up items in amongst vegetables and fruits imported from far flung corners of the world.  When you consider the alternatives, such as those seen in small communities in Greece, you just might feel a renewed sense of urgency to investigate the slow foods movement and local food production options.

If farmers markets, the slow food movement and other urban farming concepts are new to you, watch out for articles and stories on these topics while reading your local newspapers and magazines, reading local internet sites, or watching local TV shows.  Through the avenue of food, you and your family can find exciting new ways to connect with your local community.  Just think – you don’t have to go all the way to Greece to eat a healthy, Mediterranean style diet.

We’d love to hear your thoughts about these topics in our comment section below.

Related:

Slow Food Vancouver

City Farmer Vancouver

Vancouver Farmers Markets

Classic Turkish Cookery - a gorgeous book about Turkish cuisine

A selection of Greek food weblogs

If you haven’t opened a Culinaria book yet, you are missing out.  This series presents a combination of information about the local culture in each region, and focusses on the food and wine available.  The concept is a wonderful combination of a cookbook and a travel guide.  If you like Greek cuisine check out Culinaria Greece .

Souvlaki for the Soul (A Times Online Top 50 Food blog site)

The Mediterranean Vegan Cookbook

If you like Asian cuisine, you might want to check out the Mediterrasian diet.

What do you think about this topic? Let us know by leaving a comment below. We’d love to hear from you!

Do you have any information about food that you would like to share? Have you been reading about nutrition advice for families? Do you have favourite recipes that your family loves? We would love to hear about your news. Send us your piece to bcfamily [at] bcfamily.ca . We will publish your contribution in its entirety under your name. If you have your own website that you would like to promote, please provide us with the information at the bottom of your piece along with a few lines describing yourself and your interests.

If you are Italian or of Italian origin you will know that today is St. Joseph’s day. Amongst other things, St. Joseph is the patron saint of pastry chefs and the latter honour him in kind by producing zeppole sweets.

In Italy, Sicilians prepare a large banquet in honour of St. Joseph as they believe he answered their prayers for rain during a time of drought. The fava bean saved the Sicilians during the drought and is featured in the St. Joseph day feast. It is also the tradition to give food to those in need on St. Joseph’s day. Families that prepare a St. Joseph’s alter use flowers, limes, candles, wine, fava beans, zeppole pastries, cakes and cookies. The three tiered alter is meant to represent the trinity.

If you live near an Italian bakery or near a type of Little Italy in your area, this weekend is the time to try out the zeppoles.

See related:

St. Joseph’s day photos on Flickr

Article:  Zeppole recipe

Do you have any information about food that you would like to share? Have you been reading about nutrition advice for families? Do you have favourite recipes that your family loves? We would love to hear about your news. Send us your piece to bcfamily [at] bcfamily.ca . We will publish your contribution in its entirety under your name. If you have your own website that you would like to promote, please provide us with the information at the bottom of your piece along with a few lines describing yourself and your interests.