FF&V: No Excuses

Prolific Oven steak salad for $8.95

The benefits of eating fresh fruits and vegetables have been well-publicized: more vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and fiber, complemented by less calories, fats, sugar, and processed carbohydrates, will lead to weight loss and greatly reduced risk of heart attack, cancer, and diabetes.

So what's stopping us from embracing FF&V wholeheartedly? In the case of your humble observer the reasons are:

1) Inconvenience. FF&V require more frequent trips to the grocer and more prep time to wash and cut the ingredients. On the other hand popping a frozen meal in the microwave needs little time and effort.

2) Cost.  Filling a supermarket cart with FF&V is expensive, at least in the Bay Area. If one dines out, restaurants charge nearly as much for their dinner salads as they do their regular entrees.  I have a mental block against paying steak, chicken, or shrimp prices for lettuce, tomatoes, and cucumbers.

3) Taste.  Learning to appreciate the taste of FF&V isn't difficult, but sometimes, when one is hungry, one just needs to have the salty, creamy, and fatty stuff.

I was pleasantly surprised today when I went to the Fremont branch of the Prolific Oven Bakery and Cafe.   The steak salad cost only $8.95, tasted delicious, and--don't discount this attribute--was attractively presented. If other restaurants offered similar fare at similar prices, I won't have any excuses.