The importance of maintaining a healthy nutritional diet

cannot be overemphasized or stressed enough, and like most

habits, good or bad, start at a very early age in the home.

I was fortunate coming up in a small Midwestern community at

a time not long after World War II. There were nine of us

including Mom and Dad. We were all dependent on the ability

of my dad to provide and he was very good at it, so much so,

that I didn't have a full realization that we were "poor"

until much later in my life, and having to face the budget

challenges of raising a family of five of my own.

What I learned from a small like minded community, my

parents, grandparents and Aunties,that food is love and

no one would go without as long as the community knew about

it. It was common for folks to have a garden in their back

yard and any surplus was always shared. Since there were so

many of us, it seemed like we were always getting lots of

corn, beans or tomatoes, even homemade jams and jellies.

Now it seems to me, that times have changed to where the

things we took for granted then,have now somehow become a

luxury.Through the commercialization,processing of

foods,truth in labeling and FDA requirements,transportation

costs, etc.prices keep going in an upward spiral.Most

processed foods are devoid of nutrients,creating a need for

supplements. "Healthy" fresh foods which are the best

source of vitamins and minerals, have become so expensive

and at such a premium that folks raising families or on

fixed incomes have to make a major budget decision as to

whether they can afford to be healthy.The bottom line is

this.We can't afford not to develop a good nutritional

base, because the price, later on down the road will be much

higher than a week's worth of groceries.

As a citizen of this great nation and all that implies,

those are not the kinds of decisions we should be grappling

with.Those are the things our leaders/wannabes should be

focused on. But some of them give me the distinct impression

that they belong to the "Marie Antoinette" school of

thinking.(Upon hearing that the people had no bread to

eat,she allegedly said " Let them eat cake!")

Having said all that,the foundations of good nutrition

haven't really changed. People need good clean drinking

water, up to eight glasses a day. As a rule of thumb, the

less processes the food is subjected to, the better! First

choice is fresh, then frozen, then canned. Most people can

do a combination of the three.

Here are some good food sources of antioxidants that your

family may already enjoy. You can always rotate the

selection and buy according to sales. Avoid waste when

buying perishables, don't buy more than your family will

eat.

Vitamin C is water soluble and probably our first line of

defense but this powerful antioxidant cannot be stored in

the body, so it's important to eat some regularly. Most of

us know the best sources for this vitamin but I'll start

with 1. citrus fruits 2. leafy green vegetables 3.

strawberries 4. potatoes 5. broccoli 6. cabbage and green

peppers

Beta-Carotene sources can be found in 1.carrots 2. sweet

potatoes 3. tomatoes Fruits- Cantaloupe, peaches and

apricots.

Vitamin E is fat soluble and a very powerful antioxidant

that is promoted for many uses not the least of which is

ant-aging and can be found in nuts, whole grains, vegetable

oil, fish-liver oil and green leafy vegetables.

For a quick condiment this summer incorporating some of the

antioxidant rich foods discussed, try this simply delicious

and ridiculously easy combination:

6 medium tomatoes

1 medium onion diced

1/4 cup fresh chopped cilantro

2-4 Serrano or Jalapeno peppers minced

pinch of garlic powder

pinch of salt

Combine all ingredients and let stand, cover

and refrigerate leftovers. *optional additions- diced

cucumber, squeeze of lime.