I wanted to do something different for a change.  As some of you already know I graduated from BYU almost 10 years ago.  I got a bachelors of science degree in community health.  While in school I had an internship with the Utah County Health Department.  I put in over 300 hours of time and energy devoted to the cardiovascular health department.  I spent time at farmers markets, classrooms, and health fairs promoting eating healthy foods and more specifically eating more fruits and vegetables.  So, what have I done since then?  To be honest not much.  Don’t get me wrong I eat pretty healthy and have taught my kids to make healthy choices.  I exercise at least 3 times a week.  I just don’t share my knowledge with those around me.  In an effort to refresh my memory and maybe share a little, I’ve started a new experiment.

My inspiration for this experiment came while exercising with a couple of friends.  These friends know that Corey and I don’t like to eat processed  and boxed foods.  We both like to cook and try new foods.  They asked me if I had ever ordered a Bountiful Basket before.  I had heard of it but never really knew what it was.  They told me to look it up and try it.  Here is a quick run down of what it is.  Basically it is a food co-op that started in Arizona.  You order from the website, starting Monday 12:00pm and ending Tuesday 10:00 pm, and pick up at a location near you on Saturday.

These were the common complaints from my friends.  The window time to order is very short and specific and if you want to pick up at a popular spot than you need to order early.  They also complained that they would get so much food that a lot of it would go to waste.  Sometimes you would get foods that you have never seen or heard of and you don’t know what to do with it.  So for this experiment these are the questions I want to answer:

• Is it worth my money?
• Do we eat more fruits and veggies?
• Does it make us try new things?  and do my kids like it?
• How much goes to waste?

Along with answering these questions I am also going to take an inventory on what is in my basket.  I’ll tell you how we have used the fruits and veggies that we got.  It’s also good to know why it’s important to eat fruits and vegetables, so I will tell you what nutrients you get from them.

From this experiment  I hope to show you, and remind myself and family, how easy, delicious, and healthy fresh fruits and veggies can be.  I strongly believe in eating fresh fruits and veggies rather than canned or processed.  I hope that this experiment will help my family and I to become less dependent on those kinds of foods.  This will also help me to find things to blog about and maybe I can become a little more consistent.

Stay tuned.  I ordered last Monday and picked up my first basket yesterday.  I already have a couple of post in the works.