Nutritional Sense

Kimberly Wutkiewicz

Yet another New England summer invites our senses to awaken.   Leaving behind distant memories of winter hibernation, we emerge from our homes to allow the sun to touch our skin.  Maybe we uncover our beach chairs, dust off our bikes, or loyally tune back into the rhythms of baseball.  For many of us, the rituals of this sacred season are not complete without the sweet taste of ripe berries or the unforgettable aroma of vine-ripened tomatoes.

Farmers markets now pepper the city, temporarily transforming parking lots into miniature festivals.  Streams of shoppers move through vibrant mosaics of organic colors and textures.  Some choose to frequent the markets in order to reconnect with a sense of community.  Others look forward to the mystery of the latest harvest.  Regardless of why, more and more people are choosing to frequent these vegetal meccas.  As a practitioner of holistic medicine, I see this shift as sign that our urban communities are returning to our senses.  Each of us is born with an inherent wisdom, capable of guiding us towards personal wellness.  Perhaps, it is that same wisdom that is guiding our consumers back to the most fundamental sources of vital energy:  locally grown, organic food.

In the last few decades our culture has disrupted our age-old culinary traditions.  Family recipes have been replaced with boxed meals and the convenience of eating-out.   A simple walk through the aisles of your local supermarket demonstrates a movement away from the essential nature of our food.   Food products tucked behind layers of packaging, dressed in chemically generated colors, and drowned out by the volume of marketing slogans confuse our senses.  We are now often asked to judge the quality of our food by the percentages and health claims on labels rather than through the wisdom of our eyes, noses, and hands.

I invite you to immerse yourself in the sensory pleasures of nourishing your body through timeless traditions:

• Make one trip to a farmer’s market or farm stand this week.
• Discover a recipe for a vegetable that is entirely novel to you:  celeriac, kohlrabi, swiss chard.
• Experiment with a new whole grain:  brown rice, quinoa, grano, bulger.
• Listen to your senses:  Eat slowly and allow yourself to really taste the layers of flavor.  Pay attention to how foods make you feel.

Many of us lead busy lives that seem to demand meals on the go.  But by investing a little extra time and thought into our habitual routines, we invest in our sense of satisfaction and in our health.  Food is the original medicine.

In order to find farmer’s markets near you, visit: http://www.massfarmersmarkets.org/FMFM_Main.aspx