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Veggies2 at the Ford
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Broccoli
Brassica olearacea
• Large flower heads, usually green,
grow tree-like from edible stalk.
• May be steamed or eaten raw.
• High in vitamin C and fiber.
• Prevents heart disease, combats
some cancers.
• From broccolo in Italian “flowering top of a cabbage". Brought to
US by Italian immigrants.
• Cultivated 2,000 years ago.
Bamboo
Phyllostachys bissetti
• a grass that spreads mainly
through its roots, not its seeds.
• shoots are edible (ever had
Chinese food?).
• of 1,450 known species, only
one is native to the USA.
• may reach 100 ft, grow 3 ft in a
day and flower once in 120 years.
• stems, called culms, are used to
build houses and make flutes.
• food for pandas, lemurs, gorillas.
Rosemary
Rosmarinus officinalis
• Woody, perennial herb with fragrant,
needle-like leaves.
• Leaves: 4 cm long, 2 mm wide, green
and white with dense short hair.
• Attractive, tolerates some drought.
• Clip a shoot 10 cm (4 in), strip a few
leaves from the bottom, plant into soil.
• Reputation for improving memory.Antiinflammatory, may reduce risk of stroke,
Alzheimer’s disease, ALS.
• Native to the Mediterranean.
Amaranth amaranthus
• cultivated as leaf vegetable, cereal,
ornament, oil for 8,000 years
• popular in Africa, Mexico
• banned by conquistadores
• called pigweed, Celosia, nariz de
pavo
• more protein, calcium and iron
than rice, corn, wheat
• gluten-free
Kale
Brassica oleracea
• A cabbage, green or purple. Leaves do
not form a head.
• May be the most nutritious vegetable,
extremely powerful antioxidants, high in
beta carotene, vitamins K and C, lutein.
• Steam, microwave or stir-fry, not boil.
Freezes well, tastes sweeter after being
exposed to a frost.
• Many varieties grown for their
ornamental leaves, which are brilliant
white, red, pink, blue or violet.
Dill
Anethum graveolens
• Perennial herb with delicate leaves.
• Aromatic, used to flavor foods.
• Seeds soothe the stomach after
meals. Given to mothers after
childbirth.
• Requires warm to hot summers with
high sunshine levels.
• Cut flower heads off stalks when
seed is beginning to ripen. Place
upside down in a paper bag in a
warm dry place for a week. Separate
from the stems for storage.
Sunflower
Helianthus annuus
• Looks like the sun, grows to 40ft.
• Hairy stem, toothed leaves,
circular head.
• 1,000 ‘flowers’ become seeds.
Made into oil, peanut butter,
bread, roasted.
• Cultivated in Mexico 2,300 BC.
Aztec and Inca symbol of God.
Sent to Europe in the 16th century.
• Used at Chernobyl and in Japan
to removes toxins lead, arsenic,
uranium from soil.
Ginseng
Genus: Panax
• Chinese for “man root” because
root is forked like a man’s legs.
• promotes Yin energy, cleans
excess Yang and calms the body.
• Used as stimulant, to treat
diabetes and to reduce stress.
• American type has "cooling"
properties, for fever, respiratory
tract - Asian type has "heating"
properties, to improve
circulation.
Turnip
genus Brassica
• Root vegetable grown in temperate
climates. Red above ground, white
below.
• Leaves taste like mustard greens.
• Good source of vitamins A, C and K,
folate and calcium.
• Grows in nearly any soil. Can be left in
the ground until the next harvest,
preventing famine.
• Cultivated before ancient Rome/Greece.
Celery
Apiaceae
• Stalks, seeds and roots are eaten
• Seeds are used as oil, perfume
and medicine
• High in fiber and calcium
• Found in tomb of King Tut
(1300 BC)
• Creole cuisine = celery, onions,
bell peppers
Yam
Dioscorea
• Related to sweet potato. Yautilla
• Grows to 2.5m (8ft) and 70 kg (154 lb)
• Eaten raw, barbequed, roasted, fried,
grilled, boiled, smoked, made into
dessert
• Cultivated in Africa, Asia 8000 B.C.
• Can be stored six months without
refrigeration
• High in vitamins C and B6, fiber,
potassium, manganese; low in saturated
fat, sodium.
Thyme
Thymus Vulgaris
• Strong-flavored herb
• A perennial, it likes sun, heat
• Egyptians used it to embalm, Greeks
in baths and as incense
• Good source of iron and to flavor
meat, soups, stews
• Sold as bunches of stalks
• Main flavor in Listerine – a good
anti-septic.
• Helps with respiratory infections,
sore throats
Eat Mostly Plants
• What kind of food should I eat?
Mostly plants, especially leaves.
• A diet rich in veggies and fruits
reduces the risk of dying from all
Western diseases.
• People who eat a pound of fruit
and veggies a day have ½ the
cancer rate of those in the U.S.
• Vegetarians are healthier than
carnivores and live longer.
Eat Mostly Plants
Eating what stands on one leg
[mushrooms and plants] is better
than eating what stands on two legs
[fowl], which is better than eating
what stands on four legs [cows,
pigs and other mammals].
- Chinese proverb
(exception: legless fish).
Eat Mostly Plants
• The water that vegetables are
cooked in is rich in vitamins and
minerals. Save it for soups and
sauces.
• Try new kinds of plants, animals,
and fungi, not just new foods.
More diversity in species is
nutritionally better.
• Supermarkets are dominated by
corn and soy, which are seeds, not
leaves.
Eat Mostly Plants
• Eat well-grown food from soils
nourished by organic matter, not
chemical fertilizers.
• Eat locally-grown food. Food
brought 1,000s of miles in a truck
is preserved in harmful chemicals.
• Eat wild foods (when you can),
which have protections against
disease and pests.
• Oily fish - mackerel, sardines,
herring, anchovies) are the best
choices and are not endangered.
Eat Mostly Plants
• Eat foods pre-digested by bacteria or
fungi, such as yogurt, sauerkraut, soy
sauce, kimchi and sourdough bread good sources of vitamin B12.
• Sweeten and salt food yourself – you
will use a lot less.
• Don’t drink your sweets, eat them
(oranges). More fiber, fewer calories.
• Don’t eat cereals that change the color
of the milk.
• “The whiter the bread, the sooner
you’ll be dead.” Eat whole grains.
Eat Mostly Plants
• Eat junk food that you cook yourself, like French fries.
• Eat more like Asians or Italians or
Greeks.
• French eat communal meals, no
seconds or snacks, small portions.
• Central America: corn with beans
and lime is a balanced diet.
• Favor traditional foods over new
foods.
Scallion
Genus: Allium
• Tastes like onion but milder
• Cooked or eaten raw
• Used in soups, salads, noodle
and seafood dishes
• Upper portion is hollow. Bulb
is not fully developed
• Similar to shallot and leek
• Called green onions
Raspberry
Genus: Rubus
• A perennial - grown as fresh and
dried fruit, puree, juice
• Largest output - Russia, Serbia
• Suckers spread like a weed
• Berry made up of 100 druplets
• Flowers: a major source of nectar
• Leaves can be used fresh or dried
in herbal and medicinal teas.
Herbs
Cucumber: Cucumis sativus
• Like gourds, grows on
vines from the flower
• From India, brought to
Europe by Romans
• Pickled for longer life
• May be seedless
• Nine weeks to harvest
Cilantro: Coriandrum sativum
• Called coriander - grown for
3,000 years - comes from koris,
Greek for bedbug.
• Used as tea for infections,
headaches, as paste for acne.
• Used to mask the smell of bad
meat. It’s a wonder our
ancestors survived.
• All parts are edible. Favorite
of Spanish, Asians.
Basil:
Ocimum basilicum
• Toothy leaves, purple flowers.
• Used for soup, salad, meat, soap,
perfume, shampoo.
• A powerful protector in Haiti.
• For dysentery, gas pains, worms,
nausea, worts.
• Italy, given as a token of love
• Romania: If a girl gives it to her
boyfriend, they are engaged.
• A Hindu is buried with basil as a
passport to Paradise.
• Origin: So. Asia or No. African
Oregano: Origanum vulgare
• A perennial used as sauce in
pizza, fried vegetables, meat in
Greek, Spanish, Italian food.
• Strong, sweet, purple stems,
leaves with flower clusters.
• High in antioxidants.
• Effective with staph infections,
coughs, sore throats.
• Origin: Europe to central Asia
Mint
Family: Lamiaceae
• 7,000 fragrant species.
• Leaves dotted with glands
containing aromatic oils.
• From family of herbs including
basil, rosemary sage, marjoram,
oregano, thyme, lavender.
• Relieves stomach aches.
• Used as flavoring in cooking,
boiled to make sweet drink.
• Adds cool to candies.
• Used in medicines / perfumes.
Catnip: Nepeta cataria
• Strong-smelling mint.
• Cultivated for centuries as
medicine.
• As tonic, good for colds.
• Used as seasoning and tea.
• Harvested in full bloom.
• Believed to deter the evileye, calm agitated
children, curb nightmares.
• Area of Origin: Europe
Garlic: Allium sativum
• Grown as seasoning. Bulb is
made up of cloves.
• Papery covering grows around
the clove and bulb.
• Onion family. Fall planting.
• May reduce heart disease.
Indians used as aphrodisiac.
• Widows, youth, those fasting
could not eat it because of its
stimulant quality.
• Origin: Central Asia
Vegetables
Squash: Cucurbitaceae
• One of 40 kinds of gourd-shaped
vegetables. Flowers are fried.
• Provide large amounts of vitamins A
and C. Low in calories.
• Native Americans gave settlers
askutasquash or “eaten uncooked.”
• Vine-like. Five-pointed leaves,
yellow-orange flowers.
• Fruits have many different colors,
shapes, sizes, tastes, textures.
• Major groups: summer and winter.
Chard:
Beta vulgaris
• Yellow or red stems.
• Known as spinach, silver or
crab beet, mangold.
• Chock full of vitamins A, B
and C.
• Like most leafy veggies, rich
in minerals.
• Best when cooked or sauted.
• Grown in 350 B.C.E – Sicily.
Fruits
Grapes: Vitaceae
• Grows on woody vine up to
300 berries: black, blue, red,
green, purple, white
• 80% used for wine
• Made into raisins, juice,
jelly, vinegar, oil, wine
• High in sugar, energy
• Botanically a berry
• Origin: Turkey, Egypt
Strawberry: Fragaria
• Rose family, grown for tasty
heart-shaped fruit.
• Good source of vitamin C.
• Used as jam, jelly, wine.
• Not a true berry: Its seeds
are in the skin, not the flesh.
• 200 pests attack the berries.
Squirrels love them.
• First American variety grown
in 1834 in Mass.
Pumpkin: Cucurbita
• Related to squash, round or
oval, hard shell, stringy pulp.
• May weigh 1,689 pounds. Rich
in vitamin A and potassium.
• Pumpkin pie. Yummy !
• Seeds: lots of protein / iron, a
popular snack.
• Carved for Halloween.
• In Mexico 9,000 years ago.
Flowers
• Reproductive part of plant. Unites
male sperm in pollen with female
ovum to produce seeds, mostly by
bees. Some self-pollinate;
• Cultivated for beauty and ability to
heal;
• In poems, myths, religion. Girls
have flowery names;
• Plants first appeared 425 million
years ago, oldest flower fossil - 130
million years – found in China;
• Edible flowers: nasturtium, cattail,
carnation, honeysuckle, chicory,
chrysanthemum, sunflower.
Native Plants
• These are native plants grown by the
New England Wild Flower Society.
• Why protect native plants? Because
life on earth depends on plants.
• Extinction is as real for the Plymouth
Gentian as for the Humpback Whale and
the Peregrine Falcon. Habitat loss from
development, invasive species and
climate change threaten many plants.
• Plants form a community, including
trees, insects and mammals, which
depend on each other.
Sweet Potato
Ipomoea batatas
• Starchy, sweet roots. Young leaves
eaten as greens.
• Flower called “morning glory.”
• Grown in So. America 5000 BCE.
• In world 127,000,000 tons - 80%
from China fed pigs.
• Sown by vine cuttings, not seeds.
• Rich in complex carbohydrates, beta
carotene, fiber, vitamins C and B6.
Potato
Solanum Tuberosum
• First grown in Peru 7,000 years ago,
outside the Andes 400 years ago.
• Fourth-largest crop, after rice, wheat,
and maize. 1/3 grown in China / India.
• 5,000 varieties. When one type was
planted in Ireland, a blight in 1845
killed one million people and caused
one million to migrate.
• Sprouts or “eyes” are seeds. Pollinated
by insects or self.
• Prefer cool soil. Produces starchy
tubers. High in vitamin C, potassium.
Pokeweed
genus Phytolacca
• All parts of plant are poisonous.
Only birds can eat the berries.
• Leaves can be eaten if cooked 3
times. Made into jelly, juice, salad.
Poke Salad Annie sung by Elvis.
• Grows to 14 ft. in So. America.
• As folk remedy, used to treat acne,
swelling, arthritis, rashes.
• Berries made into dye, ink (Civil
War soldiers wrote letters with it).