Monday, June 29, 2009

Oranges and Lemons, the bells of St Clements


SPOTLIGHT ON ORANGES:

Originating in Asia thousands of years ago, the navel orange is one of the most popular fruits in the world. Navel Oranges are amazing at this time of the year, reaching the peak around July/August. They have excellent flavour, luscious and juicy. Perfectly delicious way to get your winter dose of vitamin c for the day(116.2% of required Vitamin C), the humble orange packs quite a punch. Used as a remedy for a hangover, one of the phytonutrients herperidin has been shown to lower high blood pressure as well as cholesterol and to have strong anti-inflammatory properties. Importantly, most of this phytonutrient is found in the peel and inner white pulp of the orange.


"The Health Benefits of Citrus Fruits," released December 2003 by Australian research group, CSIRO (The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research), reviews 48 studies that show a diet high in citrus fruit provides a statistically significant protective effect against some types of cancer, plus another 21 studies showing a non-significant trend towards protection.
Citrus appears to offer the most significant protection against esophageal, oro-phayngeal/laryngeal (mouth, larynx and pharynx), and stomach cancers. For these cancers, studies showed risk reductions of 40 - 50%.


WHY ORGANIC ORANGES?:A study by Truman State University, Missouri found that organic oranges contained up to 30% more vitamin c than conventional oranges. They are also free of all the nasty toxic chemicals placed on most conventional orchards.




Non organic (conventional) orange orchards are subjected to multiple heavy applications of potentionally toxic chemicals (which include but not limited to: oxyethylenes, carbaryl, diazinon, paraquat etc) After harvesting oranges are washed and treated with a fungacide and waxed before sale to protect them from mould.

Second Bite


We dont believe in wasting one bit of our precious organic foods and donate all our surplus produce to an amazing company called Second Bite. 'SecondBite is a dynamic not-for-profit organisation committed to making a positive difference by sourcing fresh nutritious food that would otherwise go to waste and redistributing it to people who are homeless, living in disadvantaged circumstances or experiencing food security* issues within the community.' Support these guys where you can, helping the world go round. http://www.secondbite.org/