Squash

Our garden looks much better now.  This is my exercise every day, resulting in less stress and it makes me happy.  I can get spices and vegetables in my garden that are organic and fresh.  I wish everybody especially in the Philippines could do the same thing so that they don’t have to go to the market and buy vegetables.  We can do it in our backyard. We should aim for two or more cups of fruit a day and two and one-half cups of vegetables. Most adults eat one cup of fruit and about one and a half cups of vegetables a day.

There are lots of factors why Filipinos eat less fruits and vegetables and more meat and poultry.  One of them is the mass migration to urban centers and the stress of a city lifestyle during the last three decades. Lifestyles have changed and sadly, our nutrition has taken a big hit for it.  I try to teach my relatives to eat more vegetables instead of more processed food.  When I was growing up we ate lots of fruits and vegetables and less meat.  We only ate meat once or twice a week even though we had cows, goats, chickens and pigs.  We walked a lot more not like the kids these days that are more into watching TV and playing games.  It was very different when I was growing up. 

Planting vegetables and spices is a great therapy not only for me but for everyone.  Let’s do it.