Organic Gardening Interview: Penni Shelton
July 21st, 2009
Filed in Savory and Sage Tidbits
Tags: healthy living, organic garden, organic produce, raw food
If you grow your own vegetables, you can eat them in whatever form you would most enjoy. Anyone thinking about growing and eating vegetables for health purposes – more than casual nutrition – has probably come into contact with information about the “Raw food movement” or “Living Food Movement.”
There are various schools of thought about whether you should cook your vegetables, or eat them raw. The people who eat only raw food do not heat their food above a certain temperature (116 degrees Fahrenheit, 46.7 degrees Celsius), at which the chemical structure of the food begins to change.
For the purposes of this article, we are examining the way people’s lives have been changed by incorporating vegetables, especially nutrient-dense vegetables, into their lives. Penni Shelton is one of those individuals.
Real Food Tulsa
Shelton organizes Real Food Tulsa, a group of individuals in Tulsa promoting a raw food diet, and incorporating more whole foods, fruits and vegetables into the diet. Penni Shelton does not follow a 100% raw food diet, but hovers between 75-100% raw. Prior to going raw, she had major allergy problems, irritable bowel, depression, alcohol problems, and chronic fatigue syndromes. She spent her 20’s in and out of doctor’s offices, eventually finding that she felt better when eliminating certain foods from her diet. She still had terrible digestive problems, however. While on a family vacation, Shelton picked up a copy of the book Eating in the Raw
She writes on her blog that within a few weeks of starting her raw food diet, her irritable bowel symptoms went away. She lost weight and feels none of the chronic pain she felt before the switch. Shelton grew up with a gardening family; however, because her family’s livelihood came from selling their organic produce, the best was saved for their customers, not for the family.
Instead of growing up craving fresh fruits and vegetables, Shelton grew up with a much different food culture. Now, she has come full circle, following a raw food and juicing diet, and composting the multitude of vegetable and fruit peelings and pulp to feed her lush container vegetable gardens. Shelton and her family live in a rented house, but still find time, space and energy to grow some of their own organic fruits and vegetables, and follow a healthy, plant-based diet. In Tulsa, Oklahoma, not exactly the gourmet food capital of the world.
Eat Local, Organic Produce
Shelton stresses the importance of eating local, and whenever possible, organic fruits and vegetables, as part of her diet. (Diet, used in the sense of “eating plan” or “eating strategy,” not in the modern “deprivation” sense.) When you juice fruits and vegetables, everything in them is concentrated, including any pesticides used during their life cycle. Organic food is much healthier in this sense.
Additionally, locally grown food is harvested and sold at the peak of ripeness and freshness, which means it will be most healthful and nutrient-dense. Shelton also brought up the idea of nutrient dense, versus empty calories and the importance of getting the right balance of vitamins, minerals, proteins, carbohydrates and fiber.
Shelton believes that when you know where you food comes from, you are more enthusiastic about eating it. You know the integrity, and can feel confident about the healthfulness of the food. You do not have to worry as much about weight and calories – by eating a carefully balanced diet of foods from every part of the rainbow, you give your body the nutrients it needs to function.
Shelton relays that much small-scale agriculture is grown organically, but that the organic certifications are prohibitively expensive for small operations. When a farmer looks his or her customer in the eye, while handing over the fresh produce that will go home to the customer/neighbor’s table, there is a chain of responsibility and accountability that is hidden through far-flung and vast supply chains. Since changing her diet and way of living to focus around plants, especially raw fruits and vegetables, Shelton has been able to lead an active, fulfilled life that was not possible before. Vegetables changed her life.
Visit Penni at her blog: Real Food Tulsa
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