California Grown Asparagus

Thank you to California Grown for connecting me with California growers and encouraging California consumers to “Choose California Grown” when they can.

Eating local, seasonal, organic food is important to my family. Organic because I don't want my children (or my husband and I, for that matter) putting pesticides into our bodies.

We eat seasonal because it's healthier. Foods in a certain area produce crops during a time or season that give us what our bodies need (like kiwis and citrus fruits in the Winter, which are high in Vitamin C to fight off sickness). When we eat local produce we are giving our bodies the necessary vitamins and nutrients that we need during the specific time that we need them.

We also try to buy almost all local meat and produce. Eating local stimulates the local economy and keeps our money right here benefitting our community and the people around us- whether that be on a city, county, or state level. We also eat local because it significantly reduces the amount of oil used to transport products. A banana from the other side of the world is flown over, then driven in a huge truck. I love buying from farms and farmers that I'm personally familiar with. (If you don't see a CA Grown label on products in the store, you can always ask which products are grown in California.)

I was recently sent a box of delicious and fresh asparagus from California Grown. I was somewhat familiar with California Grown, mostly due to their catchy logo, but I had no idea that it is a nonprofit organization created to promote the consumption of California grown agricultural products. They are dedicated to sharing the message that buying locally not only supports the local economy, but also gives you the freshest and highest quality produce.

Because I'm in the middle of the move I decided to keep things simple and just saute my asparagus. If I didn't have most of my kitchen packed up I would have used them in my favorite quiche.

Instead, I chopped them up, put them in a cast iron skillet and drizzled them with olive oil and a sprinkle of Celtic Sea Salt. I served them with organic new potatoes from our neighbor's CSA box and fresh eggs from our chickens. I know this looks like breakfast, but we actually ate it for dinner. (I guess that makes it breakfast for dinner.) The asparagus was delicious!