Nutrition Month 2018 #nutritionmonth

It’s nutrition month, 2018. Once again I will be posting a series of blog posts based on the nutrition month theme. This year, the theme is unlocking the potential of food.
 
It’s true that food is nourishment, but it’s also a lot more than that! As a dietitian I believe in food’s ability not only to improve health, but also to enhance lives. Over the course of March (nutrition month) look for more blog posts on: the potential to fuel, the potential to discover, the potential to prevent, the potential to heal and the potential to bring us together.
 
So to start things off, here is something to inspire you. Microgreens! Anyone can grow them, and it can be lots of fun to do this together with your kids. Microgreens have been shown to be a way to empower individuals to grow and consume a dense source of minerals that can be grown with a small ecological footprint and at the same time diversify food production systems (2).
 
Microgreens are nutrient rich and can be easily produced and consumed by individuals (2). Microgreens are high in Vitamins A, B, C, E and K and contain calcium, iron, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, zinc, and carotene (3).
 
Right now you are able to find seeds popping up in the stores. All you need is a microgreen seeds package, a shallow dish (with drainage holes), some good quality seed starting mix, and a spray bottle that has never been used for anything else that you can fill with water.
 
It will take about 10 minutes to prepare and sow these seeds. They love to be on a sunny windowsill. I water mine every day, using a spray bottle; the idea is to keep them moist but not wet.
 

1. Fill the shallow dish with the seed starting mix.
2. Sow the seeds thinly and evenly and then gently press down into the soil.
3. Cover the seeds with a very thin layer of starting mix.
4. Place them on a windowsill and water daily using the spray bottle.
5. Simply snip off the shoots when they have 2-4 leaves and enjoy on sandwiches, salads, blended into smoothies, added to soups, egg or tofu dishes before eating.

 
Happy planting!
 
Looking for more ways to unlock the potential of food for you and your family? Contact Jill, Nurture The Future’s Registered Dietitian at nf.nutrition@gmail.com
 
 
References:
1 Adapted from the Dietitians of Canada’s Nutrition Month campaign materials. Find more information about Nutrition Month at www.nutritionmonth2018.ca.
2 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5362588/
3 West Coast Seeds- Kale Microgreens
4 Indoor Edible Garden by Zia Allaway 2017.

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