3.5 weeks until Opening Day of the Bellevue Farmers Market. Meanwhile, as we limp along on our storebought, heavily-processed, packaged-in-plastic food, we need all the help we can get. Therefore, I'm happy to report that, the elementary- or middle-school band concert you've been dreading--I mean, looking forward to--might just prolong your life.
A recent study presented to the American Heart Association found that "people who took part in bimonthly group sessions built around music or laughter lowered their systolic blood pressure (the top number in the reading) by an average of five to six points after three months." Lower blood pressure means reduced risk of heart attack and stroke. Participants showed improvement whether they attended music sessions or "laughter sessions," and the overall improvements were equivalent to "someone adopting a low-salt diet, losing 10 pounds, or taking a blood-pressure-lowering medication"!
Given our busy lives, you may feel you don't have time to listen to music or that there isn't much to laugh about, but that just goes to show you haven't attended a children's band concert lately. Music and hilarity all in one place. A total two-fer. If you can catch a local school talent show, even better. I heard recently that a friend's 3rd grade daughter was writing her own song and accompanying herself on the ukulele. If that doesn't lower your blood pressure by 6 mmHg right there, there's no hope for you.
And we need a little help with our blood pressure. Latest reports bemoan rising food costs, with "prices of wheat, corn and other staples soaring." Economists blame everything from crop yields to weather to political unrest to oil prices and estimate American food prices will rise across the board by 3-4%. Unaffordable food is nothing new for many places in the world, where people spend 30-70% of their income on food, with the result that the cheapest calories become the only options, whether or not those calories are any good for you. Consider the story run in the New York Times recently about Bolivians' native quinoa now priced out of reach, "hastening [the Bolivians'] embrace of cheaper, processed foods and raising fears of malnutrition in a country that has long struggled with it."
Then there's the plastic packaging. Discovery News cites a study finding that the levels of BpA in the bloodstream could be reduced by half if the participant went on a strict, very-limited-exposure plastic "diet." No plastic wrap, packaging, containers, water bottles, etc. (Unfortunately, the link wasn't working for me when I checked it again. Hopefully they got their server fixed...) Nice to know, but almost impossible to implement. We're doomed!!! Time for another band concert...
Hang in there, and we'll see you all in six weeks at our source for music, laughter, and fresh, unpackaged food--the Bellevue Farmers Market!
(P.S. All food may be getting more expensive, but the Market accepts WIC Fruit/Vegetable Checks and EBT Cards.)
*** Bellevue Farmers Market 2011 Coming Soon!***
THURSDAY OPENING DAY
May 12th
3 - 7 pm
First Presbyterian Church
SATURDAY OPENING DAY
June 4th
10 - 3 pm
Washington Square
