Judging by the feedback, I think many of us found Craig’s column on ‘What the Health’ last week to be thought-provoking and inspiring – I am very impressed with his switch to becoming vegan, as it is quite a dramatic change in lifestyle. Fortunately, living in LA makes the decision far easier as we have so many options available to us. Whilst I won’t be going vegan myself just yet, I do try to make sure that I buy the best produce I can afford as well as limiting my processed food intake. I think I mentioned a few months ago how I was experiencing a few health problems (I was diagnosed as anemic), but I am delighted to let you know that I managed to overcome this and it was mainly through changing my diet – my mate Marmite played a big role and is actually commonly used to help fight iron deficiencies. I also found that herbs and spices were easy to incorporate and many are least as high in iron as Popeye’s favourite vegetable.
As we know, Los Angeles is a multifaceted town – a combination of highs and lows, healthy living and over indulgence, mixed in with glamour and an awful lot of poverty. But when it comes to choosing healthier foods we are fortunate to have many options available to us – even Whole Paycheck (aka Whole Foods) offer sales and coupons, so if you shop wisely you too can afford that air-chilled, local, free-range organic chicken that the nutrition gurus are often touting. And often for less than the price of the factory-farmed, chlorine washed, antibiotic-filled poultry that we think we are resigned to buy (which supposedly will be arriving on British shores soon.…).
My personal preference is to shop local (except when it comes to British tea and chocolate) , Ralphs even has a ‘local’ section – but the best choice is to pay a visit to your local farmers market. The one at the Grove has a decent selection, but you can’t go a day in LA without passing at least one pop-up farmers market – these are just a few of my favourites, one for every day of the week!
Monday – Plummer Park in WeHo
Tuesday – Culver City on Main Street
Wednesday – Santa Monica Farmers Market – Arizona Avenue
Thursday – Central Avenue Farmers Market – DTLA
Friday – Echo Park Farmers Market
Saturday – Burbank Farmers Market
Sunday – Hollywood Farmers Market (on Ivar)
I mustn’t forget to include LA hot spot Yamashiro Farmers Market in Hollywood- which is on a Wednesday throughout the summer – this is an evening event which runs from 5pm-10pm and has one of the best views in Los Angeles – they have a Happy Hour and street food too if you want to make a night of it.
Shopping at a market is probably the easiest way to find out where your groceries are from, as you get to chat to the seller – I am a big proponent of buying local seasonal produce, it’s how I used to shop with my mum as a kid, as there wasn’t half as much choice when I was growing up. You wanted tangerines? You waited till Christmas! Plus you get more bang for your buck, purely because the nutritional value is reportedly higher. You also help reduce your carbon footprint; I like to save my pollution miles for my visits home to visit family. But if you really want something out of season the next best thing (in my opinion) is organic frozen produce.
Farmers markets are also great places to take your out-of-town visitors, as there is often a bit of entertainment as well as a few street food vendors – perfect for all ages.
Another great tourist attraction seems to be our weekly Brits in LA Breakfast at Cecconi’s. Whenever I have an out of town guest they always ask if they can come to our Tuesday Breakfast Club! This week our good friends Barratt and Lee graced us with their presence and declared the Full English as the best they had had in ages!
Congratulations to this week’s pub quiz winners – Team Fire Fury and Golf – and don’t forget there is no pub quiz this Tuesday but we will resume as normal on August 22nd at the Cat & Fiddle on Highland Avenue in Hollywood. We hope to see some of you down there
You can visit us any time at www.britsin.la for event details . Everyone is welcome – you don’t have to be British and you don’t have to be a member of our Facebook group either!
Cheers!
Eileen
