New Year’s resolutions are easy in La Mesa

Fresh food, fresh air, and a fresh start with the New Year. A University of Scranton survey indicates nearly half of Americans (45 percent) resolve to adopt better habits for each new year, and around half of them (46 percent) keep their self-made promises for six months. Top annual New Year’s resolutions include getting fitter and healthier and saving money. Keeping these can be easy in East County, with the simple behavior changes of shopping at the weekly La Mesa Farmers Market and traversing La Mesa’s city walk and urban hike routes, according to the La Mesa Wellness Task Force.

At a late-December farmers market, “Farmer Steve” White detailed benefits of introducing more servings of fresh, local produce into daily diets, citing his family’s five healthy children. White’s agronomy degree and 30 years of farming experience provide expertise for side consulting on organic crop-raising methods. 

White notes that commercial growers pick not at peak produce flavor and that local farmers can sell fruits and vegetable with better taste by offering their crops within a day of harvest. “Farmer Steve” further explained that community-based farmers could grow for a longer season than produce is typically available in supermarkets and that chain food-sellers often purchase products from abroad that cannot be vouched for as to growing methods. He sells produce throughout San Diego County and praises area residents in comparison, “People in East County are recycling more and working on a good, basic, healthy lifestyle.” White’s business is 60-70 percent citrus, with the remainder avocados and deciduous fruit.

Sage Mountain Farm, of Hemet, offers a variety of certified organic vegetables, including specialty squash at the farmers market. Sage’s Joe Walz commented that he finds the food his employer Phil Noble harvests is tastier than store products, that nothing is added to the food or the soil, meaning no pesticide residue remains, and that fewer transport miles from farm to market translates to less pollution exposure for the food. Walz also remarked that local farmers could sell more new foods than larger supermarkets can.

Pamela Leathers, owner-creator of Heartland Harvest, has spent a decade hand making “pure, clean food” such as whole-grain granolas and dry mixes. She describes herself as “very proud” of her products with no salt, sugar, soy or dairy fillers, and she says, “Every I make is good food, easy, convenient, and cost-effective, because people can save money by eating more at home.”

Drake Family Farms features goat cheeses and yogurts. Producer Ari Baban says the products have superior taste, are fresher by being made daily, and are better for including no powered milk and no preservatives that can destroy the benefits of eating yogurt cultures.

Meatmen, in business for about six years, offers fresh, handmade sausage and salami. The meats have no fillers or nitrates as ingredients, incorporate fair-trade, organic spices, and are produced using old-world-style cold fermentation. The animals butchered are raised humanely on local farms, killed humanely by quick electrocution while feeding.

And Eric Clark, co-owner of Close to Home with his fiancé, sells fresh-rolled, “real Italian” pastas of 100% semolina flour with nothing dehydrated added. He describes his pasta’s flavor as better than store pastas’, containing more nutrients and protein, and he says his customers report they eat fewer and better calories with his products. Clark states that his clients include diabetics who find his pastas more digestible than others. 

He said that in his small, local enterprise, unlike larger producers, he is “always trying new stuff” to make more delicious recipes, such as carrot curry flavor. Clark’s most popular flavor is spinach-garlic, and his holiday ravioli mix pairs that with red bell pasta.

Shedding those good calories is easy at any of La Mesa’s mapped walking routes, ranging from the leisurely two-mile downtown Art Trail, which “supports the city of La Mesa’s goal to be the healthiest and most livable city in the region,” to the advanced urban hike of “The Challenge,” a 3 1/2-mile stretch over hills and steps, which starts at Highwood Park and is denoted by red markers. Walk La Mesa routes vary, with at least one group hosting a walk daily, most in early morning hours but with a few at midday and late afternoon.

Other healthy products available at the La Mesa Farmers Market include fresh fish, organic loose-leaf teas, olives, sauces, vinegars, oils, and soaps. 

The La Mesa Farmers Market, which celebrated its 20th anniversary in operation during October, is held every Friday from 2-6 p.m. at the corner of Allison and Spring Streets. Maps of La Mesa’s city walking paths can be found at cityoflamesa.com/index.aspx?NID=942.