Who said you needed lots of space for a vegetable garden and that it’s impossible when you’re living in an inner-city apartment?!…Things like this might make things a wee bit more difficult but certainly not impossible. Think outside the square….if you’re limited for space, try growing your veggies in pots or buckets.  Vegetables like lettuces, broccoli, cauliflower and courgettes can work really well grown like this and with regular water and plenty of fertiliser you’re guaranteed a bumper crop.

 Vegetables always taste much better when they’re home-grown and are a great way to get your kids involved in healthy food – let them be part of your garden project and I guarantee they will start to eat more veggies. Despite what many people think, planting veggies doesn’t take a lot of time – just ask the Hurricanes. I started a veggie growing competition with them this week and with a bucket and plant in hand, 32 veggies were planted in just a matter of minutes…….I will keep you posted on their progress……

http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/rugby/4527211/Hurricanes-show-their-healthy-side

The queen of the cookbook, Alison Holst, was named a Dame Companion in the New Year’s Honours list for her services to the food industry. Dame Alison has had a profound influence on the eating habits of kiwis with the publication of many books and at the young age of 72, she is not slowing down with her 100^th book due for publication in 2011.

 She began her career lecturing at the University of Otago, before fronting her own cooking show ‘Here’s how’ in 1965 with her first cookbook following in 1966. Dame Alison is a passionate foodie that believes food does not need to be complicated to be good. She has made an art of taking ordinary food, mixing it with a few ingredients (never a long list) and turning it into something the whole family will like.  A true champion, thanks Dame Alison!

Its a fact – nearly one quarter of NZ children are overweight or obese before they’ve even started school! And the stats only head one way after that – UP….once at school, the rates of obese or overweight children increase to over 30% – so 1 in 3 NZ kids aged between 5-14 years are classified as overweight or obese making it almost abnormal to be of normal body weight – how backwards is that!

Of major concern is that not only are our children getting fatter, but they are also likely to be malnourished because of their unhealthy diet. We’ve spent too much time and money talking about it and bickering over how to solve the problem and now its time for action because the cost on the health system (thats you and me – the people who pay tax) is already HUGE and is only going to increase. The cost goes far beyond health though - there is and will continue to be a massive cost on business and the environment. But perhaps the scariest thing of all – this generation may be the first to not outlive their parents!

When I went to the supermarket yesterday I almost fell over when I saw that broccoli, such a staple veg, was $4.00 a head! This coincided of course with the rise in GST and reignited the debate on whether to cut the tax on fresh fruit & vegetables. One of the biggest problems to having some items exempt is the additional cost to the government but you could just off-set that by adding an extra tax on things that are draining the life out of health system like tabacco and fast food!

With fruit & veg at, what must be an all-time price high, it is hardly surprising that researchers from Otago University found that people brought more fresh produce when it cost less. However, New Zealander’s throw out almost one third of the fresh produce they buy every week – so whilst you could be confident that cutting the GST off fresh produce will encourage everyone to buy more, does that actually mean we will eat more……or will it, just end up in the landfill. Food for thought isn’t it!

With less than 24-hours to the opening ceremony, I’m still wondering whether India will be ready for one of the biggest sporting events. But one thing is for sure, there are two athletes just landed in Delhi and settling into the village who are ready and waiting to make their mark on the world stage. Gabe Armstrong-Scott – the youngest to ever represent NZ at a Commie or Olympic Games at just 13! And Sian Law – NZ’s first female wrestler at a Games. All the best girls, I’m stoked to have been apart of your build-up and looking forward to watching you compete.