I don't know about you, but I have thoroughly enjoyed the abundance of locally grown fresh fruits and vegetables during the past few weeks. Local vegetables are at their peak right now, so I encourage you to take advantage of this opportunity.

Every few days, my neighbor Donna is knocking on my door with a smile on her face and an arm full of fresh vegetables out of her garden. She keeps the entire neighborhood supplied as well. There is no way we will be able to repay her for her thoughtfulness and generosity, but I know Donna well enough to know that she does not expect us to repay her.

I know there are many others in the county who have good neighbors just like Donna, because I hear others tell about their neighbors sharing with them. When I suggest to many hobby gardeners with huge gardens that they should sell their surplus at the Robeson County Farmers Market to help pay for some of their expenses, they do not hesitate to tell me that their greatest satisfaction is sharing things from their garden with their friends and neighbors.

I visit the downtown farmers market at least once each week. It is amazing to me to see the great variety of fruits and vegetables that our local farmers have to sell. You don't have to know a whole lot about vegetables to tell that what you see at this market is about as fresh as it can get. Much of it was picked the day before coming to the market or early that morning before the farmer left to come to the market.

When I visited the market this past Saturday morning, there were a few people patiently waiting until a driver arrived with another load of fresh Dixie Lee peas. These peas were being picked that very morning as the farmer sold them at the market. You can't get much fresher than this.

I also visit many of the local vegetable farms and roadside stands. I encourage you to do the same. Not only can you buy fresh local fruits and vegetables, you can actually see where they are being grown.

We are all very aware that fruits and vegetables are good for us. Our mothers told us so as we were growing up. But if you are like me, when I was young, I thought my mother was trying to trick me into eating the cheap stuff out of the garden, so she would not have to buy that good stuff from the store like candy, ice cream, pop-tarts, and cookies.

But now that we are grown, we know that fresh fruits and vegetables are good for us. Instead of our mothers telling us so, our doctors are telling us to eat more fresh fruits and vegetables.

Have you ever considered what God was trying to tell us as he created fruits and vegetables? If you think about it, He gave us clues as to the benefits of the different foods we should eat.

You have always heard that carrots are good for your eyes. Science has shown that carrots greatly enhance blood flow and improves the function of the eye. If you slice a carrot in two, it looks a lot like the radiating lines from the pupil and iris in the human eye.

The human heart is red and has four chambers. If you slice a ripe tomato in two, it will be red and have four chambers. Research shows that tomatoes are loaded with lycopine and are indeed pure heart and blood food.

Grapes hang in a cluster that has the shape of the heart. Each grape looks like a blood cell. Research has shown that grapes reduce heart diseases and lessens the risk of cholesterol.

A Walnut looks like a little brain - a left and right hemisphere, upper cerebrums and lower cerebellums. Even the wrinkles or folds on the nut are just like the neo-cortex. We now know walnuts help develop more than three dozen neuron-transmitters for brain function.

Many beans, especially kidney beans, look a lot like the human kidney. Not surprising, beans help maintain the kidneys function.

Stalks of celery look a lot like a human bone. Bones contain lots of sodium and so does celery. If you don't have enough sodium in your diet, the body pulls it from the bones, thus making them weak

Eggplant and pears look a lot like the womb and cervix of the female, and science has shown eating these items helps shed unwanted birth weight and prevents cervical cancers.

Sweet potatoes resemble the pancreas and actually balance the glycemic index of diabetics. Citrus fruits, like oranges and grapefruits, look a lot like the mammary glands of the female, and when eaten, will assist the health of the breasts and the movement of lymph in and out of the breasts.

Onions look like the body's cells. Research has shown that onions help clear waste materials from all of the body cells. They even produce tears that wash the epithelial layers of the eyes.

You should eat at least five servings of fruits and vegetables each day. Support our local economy. Buy your fresh fruits and vegetables from our local farmers.

E-mail address: Everett_Davis@ncsu.edu

Mailing Address:
P. O. Box 2280
Lumberton, NC 28359-2280

Phone: 910-671-3276
Fax: 910-671-6278

Date Created 7/23/08