Photo by Yourdon.

I recently caught up with one of my favorite Los Angeles chefs, Andrew Kirschner, of the hip and always delicious Wilshire Restaurant. Andrew shared his love of slow food, what he’s tossing around in his kitchen and how to make the most of the farmer’s market.

WW: Food critics complement your palate and your eye. How can newbie farmer’s market shoppers begin to train their eyes for the right goods?

Andrew Kirschner: You are obviously at the market to get the best, freshest, highest quality ingredients available. But this is not automatically the case just because you are at the market. Look for ingredients that are vibrant in color, have terrific aromas and are free of blemishes. Also, don’t be afraid to talk to the farmers! Ask when the fruit or vegetable was picked. Often it was yesterday, which is great, but it also could have been last week, in which case ask another farmers about the same product. You want something picked as close to today as possible.

WW: When shopping, how do you decide on organic over locally raised (or vice versa)?

AK: Most of the product at the farmers market is grown locally and 90 percent of the time, it is also grown organically. It is also worth noting that many farmers have been practicing organics for a long time but their farms are not necessarily “certified” organic. This could be for financial reasons (it’s quite expensive to go through the certification process), or because they have not been practicing organics long enough. If I had to choose between organic and locally raised the answer is simple, organic every time! Hopefully, as a society we’re coming to a point where we realize we should not be putting fertilizers and nonorganic compounds into our bodies (often these chemicals don’t show any negative physiological effects for years to come). Not only does organic produce taste way better, we can also rest easy knowing that our children and the world they live in will be safe! Sustainability is the last word–and key!

WW: When making their shopping lists I always suggest patients add two or three new veggies and fruits to try each season. What are your favorite Spring time produce?

AK: Spring is the culinary new year! All my favorite ingredients start showing up at the markets during springtime. Right now at the restaurant I am playing around with ramps, fava beans, morel mushrooms, asparagus, and the list goes on!

WW: I love that you embrace the “farm to table” concept. Can you explain how this brings out the natural energy in food?

AK: The farm to table concept is an integral part of what I do here at the restaurant and encapsulates my philosophy on food. Only by shopping at the farmer’s market and selecting fresh, seasonal organic produce is the end result of my vision accomplished. By sourcing ingredients in this manner the freshness and quality of the ingredients are allowed to shine. This results in outstanding flavor and of course, healthy benefits!

Chef Andrew.

WW: It’s amazing that a high volume restaurant like yours can still prepare exceptionally healthy entrees. Would you credit this ability to the creation of seasonal menus and local ingredients?

AK: Absolutely yes! By serving seasonally we are letting the quality of the ingredients speak for themselves without over- manipulating them. This in turn means less prep time therefore allowing us to serve the quantity of food that we do and at the same time keeping things fresh and delicious!

WW: What advice do you have for cooks that are serious about aligning their style and methods as environmental influences on food continue to shift?

AK: Eat local. Eat fresh. Eat sustainable. Eat organic! When you do this you can let the ingredients speak for themselves and have a wonderfully delicious and healthy meal.

Christine M. Dionese L.Ac. specializes in integrative medicine, medical journalism and was the VP of marketing at WellWire LLC. Visit her wellness and lifestyle blog, Reaching Beyond Now.

Photo by JelleS.

WellWire went interactive to test your MooQuotient on Twitter and asked some controversial questions about how livestock is raised and farmed. In a nutshell we asked, do you know where that steak was before it landed on your plate?

Still want a chance to see your MQ? Visit our Twitter feed and test your smarts now! Already took the quiz? See how your MooQuotient rates below!

Here’s what we discussed

Antibiotic and Hormone Use In Commercial Farming

Would you like a “complimentary” dose of antibiotics in your food? Although popular in large commercial farming, the use of antibiotics and hormones in livestock goes far beyond the farmer’s field. You’ve heard the saying, “we are what we eat.” This couldn’t ring more true when we eat meat from cows that have been treated with antibiotics and hormones. While the price tag might be lower at your grocer’s counter, the expense is experienced as a weakening of our natural immune defenses. Reserve antibiotic use for serious illness and decrease your chances for developing antibiotic resistance.

Cows a Grazin’?

Ever seen a commercial livestock farm? Commercial farming lines up their cows side by side with only a fractional amount of space to divide them.

Need more of a visual? Cows to the side, food to the front, and you know what in the back. This means your steak was eating and excreting all within 3 feet! Farmers state the case that treating their livestock with antibiotics preventively will reduce the likelihood of this situation causing cross-contamination. 

Cows raised in a sustainable environment are free to roam, moo, and eat naturally, enjoying a more ethical and humane way of life. These grazers also provide us with the healthiest cuts of meat. Consuming organic meat offers our diets essential omega fats as well as a great source of vitamin E.

Going Organic

We all want delicious, good for us food, yet selections that don’t make a huge dent to our pocketbooks. The impact of spending more now will be seen later as an investment into your health and well-being. Considering the hidden costs of conventional foods, organic is likely cheaper in the long run.

Visit the Organic and Natural Experience to learn more about how your family can go organic today!

Want to weigh in on this topic? Drop by WellWire’s Facebook page to share your insights or start a discussion with other fans.

Christine M. Dionese L.Ac. specializes in integrative medicine, medical journalism and was the VP of marketing at WellWire LLC. Visit her wellness and lifestyle blog, Reaching Beyond Now.

Photo by paul l nettles.

All this talk about organic foods on twitter this week has done two things:

1. Sent me back into memory dreamland remembering eating wild cherries from the neighbor’s trees in France

2. Living in Bangkok today, made me realize how these organic foods are not within everyone’s reach.  Either they’re too expensive or, depending on where you live, simply unavailable.  As much as I would love to eat organic foods 100% of the time, it is not going to happen this week in South East Asia.

I don’t think I need to go into all the different problems associated with a high pesticide load (another article perhaps?) because there are too many. Also, I trust that your common sense must tell you that they are bad for you despite ridiculous studies like the one published in the Times Online article this week.  Instead, lets prioritize.

Farmers have the daunting task of dealing with insects, mites, fungus, weeds, mollusks, nematodes, and 14-year-old me on a guerilla mission to eat my body weight in cherries every other day. Many of them turn to insecticides, fungicides, herbicides, molluscicides, miticides, nematicides and drnishanticides. A lot of these chemicals are fat soluble which means the fattier the food the more I prioritize buying that item organic.

Cooking oils, animal meats etc (being animals ourselves, a lot of the chemical residue ends up in your fat tissue, which is a good reason to lose weight gradually over time).  That’s a simple guideline but there are exceptions, avocado, for example, has a low pesticide residue (think thick skin).

The Environmental Working Group has a wonderful list called the Dirty Dozen which they update continuously.  Here is the ranking of the worst foods in order of pesticide load to eat non-organic, meaning, if you don’t always go organic, at the least try to go organic on the following 12 foods:

1. Peaches
2. Apples
3. Bell Peppers
4. Celery
5. Nectarines
6. Strawberries
7. Cherries
8. Kale
9. Lettuce
10. Grapes (imported)
11. Carrots
12. Pears
13. Tomatoes

If you choose organic with these then you’ll be saving yourself a load of solvent toxicity over time.  Here is a handy iPhone app and wallet size card you can print out to keep track of vegetable pesticide load.

Happy shopping!

P.S. That image of the plane, those are pesticides being sprayed all over your Top 12.

Dr. Nishant Rao is a co-founder of WellWire.com. He is a well-traveled naturopathic doctor and new father, practicing an integrative approach to create wellness in and around Los Angeles. Become a patient or discover his practice.