This week’s recipes include two soups which fit perfectly into the cold, rainy weather we’ve been having. We included a light spring soup which uses many spring herbs, the Dutch Herb Soup. A variation of this recipe is suggested to originate as early as the mid 17th century. The recipe we included is a based on Christiane Muusers recipe translation from the original cookbook Keukenboek by Henriette Davidis from 1868. The original recipe calls for potato dumplings, which we swapped for plain potatoes due to time constraints, but we would encourage those who are slightly more ambitious to make potato dumplings or replace the potatoes with gnocchi.

I find the aphorism 'do what you love and you'll never work a day in your life' to be true for me personally. I've had the desire from a young age to find a way to help others improve their health through nutrition, and after considering many potential career paths in the broader fields of healthcare, which along the way included obtaining a degrees in biomedical engineering and another in biochemistry, I found my way into agriculture following college in 2012. Agriculture is really the heart of it all. As a farmer selling produce packages directly to members of my community I can help them, one carrot at time, eat their way to a more healthful tomorrow. Though society has found many creative alternatives to gleaning nutrition from fruits and vegetables, there are no magic pills, supplements, or pharmaceuticals that can improve one's health as much as a daily dose of plants. That is why I've decided to focus all of my energy answering the question- how can I help members of my community consume more fresh, nutritious fruits and vegetables?