Dr. Hazel Wallace, founder of the educational platform The Food Medic, tells me that basically any plant-based food counts. “What that means is any food that comes from a plant. Yes, fruits and vegetables, but also beans and legumes, nuts and seeds, grains like oatmeal, quinoa and brown rice, and whole grains.” They all deserve one point, but herbs and spices count only as a quarter point.
They don’t have to be fresh either. Plant-based can come from a can, a jar, or the freezer. Spices and herbs can be dried.
The news that the mint in my julep and the paprika in my couscous are a quarter point each is gratefully received. Having recently used a glucose monitor for a different item and seeing how fruit can increase my levels, I was afraid to look for my 30 a week in Carmen Miranda’s hat.
My experiment starts well, forcing me to get out of my everyday life with subtle changes; my birch muesli to go from a cafe was swapped for a different yogurt pot with passion fruit and mango. Still, midweek, I’m seeing some repeat guests. “You’ve already been crossed off the list!” I say tomatoes and spinach, like a frustrated gorilla.
There are barriers to achieving such variety. We are in the midst of a cost of living crisis. Unless you are a large household, buying a wide range of ingredients each week inevitably leads to food waste.
It also goes against eating in season: it would seem crazy to start eating asparagus from Peru in January, just because of the tick.
It is something that Eve Kalinik is aware of with her clients. “I don’t think people should focus so much on variety that they end up throwing away a lot of food.”
His advice, if you don’t live in a big household with a big weekly groceries, is to start using more frozen vegetables, as well as cans and jars.
“Things like spinach and berries have much higher nutritional value when frozen because vitamin C degrades after a vegetable or fruit has been harvested.” Therefore, successful bidders who experience excess must deal with pickling and freezing. The latter is definitely the friend of 30 a week.
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