Eat your leafy greens, for pete's sake!

I've been having a few headaches lately - of the literal and figurative kind - so, in a step to overcoming at least the literal ones, I went to see my eye doctor last weekend. He ran all the usual tests - digital retinal photography (imaging the retina), Zeiss GDx (risk for glaucoma), QuantifEye (screens for macular degeneration), and Corneal Topography (maps the cornea). All very interesting and not at all painful...except on the wallet, of course. However, it's been three years since I had an eye exam so it really was time I stepped up and got it all done.

To cut a long story (3 hours of testing and waiting, in fact) short, I need glasses for reading. Well, I am approaching that fearful age that begins with a '4' and ends with an '0' and I work on a computer all day (as a programmer) so guess what....my eyes are getting older and more tired. I am not vain and I don't mind having glasses, in fact I hear they can be quite attractive these days. I will simply have to avoid the 'Ugly Betty' type, I guess.

However, the really interesting part of the whole experience (aside from the proffered hope that I may yet be able to beat these headaches by fastening a simple occular device to my face) was the result of the QuantifEye test for Macular Degeneration. Apparently, a measure from 0 to 1 is taken of the macular pigment in the eye and baseline score is assessed: 0 is blind and 1 is perfect eye health, I assume. The lower your score, the less macular pigment you have and the more likely you are to develop Age Related Macular Degeneration (AMD). So in this case, we shuld be shooting for 0.50 or higher.

I scored 0.24 and was horrified.

The risk factors are being female, light-skinned, overweight and a smoker. I strike out on three out of four of these factors (I do not smoke, in case you were wondering...) so I guess it should come as no surprise that I score low.

Except for the fact that the nutrients needed to maintain a healthy level of macular pigment are lutein and zeaxanthin - both of which are carotenoids and therefore found in green leafy vegetables (spinach, kale, collard greens etc) and fruit/veg along the yellow-orange spectrum - orange peppers, carrots, corn etc. And, being vegan, these tend to form the basis of a healthy, wholefoods diet. You see the irony here?

So, in order to ward off eventual blindness in old age, the good doctor suggested I take a supplement called EyePromise Restore which contains Vit C, Vit E, Omega-3, Zinc, Mixed Tocopherols, ALA, Lutein and Zeaxanthin.

'Fine' I said, 'except that the Omega-3s are derived from fish oils and I do not eat fish oils.'

'Allergy to fish?' he asked innocently.

'Vegan', I replied, still peering myopically through those Harry Potter-esque lens-fitter machines.

'Oh, but fish oils are really good for the eyes', he continued.

'But not so great for the fish', I countered firmly.


And that was that.

So as long as my eyesight holds up - and I figure I have at least another 40 years or so - I am looking for a vegan equivalent of the EyePromise Restore. I imagine it must be out there somewhere and - having only recently opened my eyes to the reality of the world and how we treat our fellow earthlings - I do not intend to allow my vision to be clouded ever again.

So while I search for this vegan supplement, I am making one other commitment: to stop being a hypocrite and start eating a ton more of those leafy greens that we vegans are always so happy to tell others they need to nibble!

Stay vegan and eat your green leafies, friends! :)

Maple Syrup and Garlic....where's the link????

.....The Farmers' Market, of course!

This summer has been uncharacteristically miserable - weather-wise, at least. Many days it has poured with rain continually and I'd begin to believe that a) I'd been magically spirited back to England, that (in)famously drizzly isle, and b) that I'd better evolve some webbed feet. PDQ....!!!

Yesterday, however, the day started out beautiful and doggedly remained that way and so, to celebrate, My Beloved and I hot-footed it up to the Farmers' Market in Northampton. It's a pretty low-key affair, with only a handful of stalls, and a preponderence of plantable plants....bedding plants, annuals, that kind of thing.





However, there are also at least two or three extremely well provisioned vegetable stalls with a truly impressive array of greens - kale of every kind, mustard greens, collard greens, you name it, they have it - root vegetables, enormous bunches of fresh herbs, and some fruits. Since we are still experimenting with growing our own kale, I restricted myself to getting some fingerling potatoes (delicious simply boiled and tossed with thinly-sliced garlic sauteed in olive oil), heirloom tomatoes, baby eggplants (just 2 inches in length - perfect for grilling lightly and popping into your mouth!), white eggplants, corn, a bunch of radishes the size of small plums, and some summer squash. It's all somewhat cheaper than the grocery store and I love that the money is going direct to the grower, the farmer. One of the stalls was offering only shallots and different types of fresh garlic:




Show me the grocery store where you'd find this kind of choice of garlic bulb!!!! We bought a handful of different kinds and I'm planning to roast them with a little olive oil and then use in soups, breads, or as pizza toppings.

The other specialty stall belonged to the maple syrup guy. We've bought from him before and the syrup is wonderful, ranging from a very light amber to a deep golden color. I love to use the former on crepes and french toast and the latter in baking - especially as I want to use more of these natural sweeteners and (ultimately) leave refined white sugar behind.




The whole market is basically just one small side street of the town that they close off to traffic for the morning, but it was heaving with shoppers. Perhaps the sun brought them out or perhaps it's just the nature of Northampton. There were folks with strollers, young tattooed couples, one young woman proudly sporting a Vegan Radio t-shirt, spry seniors, bicyclists, people with their dogs. It's very much a mixed bag. One couple, I noticed, had a very unusual dog - an American Hairless Terrier. I didn't manage to get a picture - to be honest I was kind of embarassed to ask - but, while talking with the man, I learned that they had bought her on the internet. From a breeder. I could barely stop myself from rolling my eyes and sighing - it's not like we don't have dogs galore here in shelters and pounds who need a home!!!!!! But no, these guys had the dog driven up from heaven knows where. And it struck me that this hairless dog is really going to enjoy the New England winters, oh yes indeedy! Hmmmmm.....

One of the few stalls that I avoid - for obvious reasons - is the farm-raised, free-range, happy-beef stall. Usually, I try to walk directly past it and just not look. I find it altogether too sad. And it struck me yesterday how different the vibe was coming from that particular stall...see what I mean?

The canopy seemed a ridiculous contrast to the butchered bodies in the altogether pathetic coolers. And the owner was not exactly doing a brisk trade, I am glad to say. I clung tightly to my Vegan Outreach bag as I walked by and tried not to think too much about it all. 

As we were leaving - the 'happy beef' stall having totally killed my earlier good mood - the fates intervened and presented me with the following sight:




It's hard not to feel better when you look at them isn't it!

Do you have a farmer's market where you are? And if so, what do you like best about it?

Stay Vegan Friends!

An Interesting Few Days

On Friday last week, My Beloved and I visited a place we don't usually frequent as it involves driving out there and usually we prefer just to walk to one of the myriad cafes and restaurants in Northampton to grab a sandwich or bowl of soup for lunch. However circumstance found us at Spoleto Express, an offshoot of the 'Spoleto empire' which includes the eponymous downtown location, Pizza Paradiso, the Del-Ray, Mama Inguana's and a couple of others whose names escape me. Anyways, trepidently we surveyed the menu boards and discovered no vegan options as such but a couple of dishes that could easily be veganised: grilled vegetable panini with mozzarella and mayo or the hummus and vegetable wrap with cheddar cheese.

Being as it was a chilly day, I plumped for the former but requested they hold the cheese and mayo - a simple concept, one would have imagine. But no! Apparently, they could 'leave the cheese out' but the mayo was already spread and nothing could un-do that. Hmmmm, I thought to myself, OK I'm flexible, I'll just go with the hummus vegetable wrap instead and ensure that the cheese is left out. 

Great, so we paid, grabbed our coffees and sat to await our lunch.

Then the chef came over - a young guy who was very nice but full of remorse that they'd run out of hummus. Would I perhaps like the grilled vegetable panini?, he enquired. Yes, I said, very much so - it being a hot sandwich and it being about 8 degrees below outside and blustery - but I don't eat dairy - being vegan - so I need the cheese and mayo left out.....

No problem, he said, we can always accommodate special requests.

Which left me sipping bemusedly on my coffee and wondering whether I have not yet, in fact, mastered the native tongue after all....????