BSustained

BSustained featured recently in an article about diet and the environment by Patrice John in the Birmingham Mail.

Birgit works with a range of people teaching them how to plant, grow and cook their own food. Originally from Germany she started gardening with her dad when she was five and her love of fresh food has continued to grow. But she is still concerned about how food production affects distribution, climate change and sustainability.

Her view on super foods is that people should opt for a varied diet that embraces seasonal produce, and in that way they’re sure to consume foods that are good for them.

She says: “There is little doubt that there are foods that are better than others but my general advice to people is to make sure they eat a varied diet.

“I tell people that the rainbow diet is always the best way – and that basically means just to eat foods that are from each colour of the rainbow. This is a great way to introduce children to eating different kinds of foods as its a novel way of going about things and rainbows have very positive connotations.
If I could get people to do anything it would be to make sure they eat seasonably as that can be the best way to keep the cost of food affordable.”

Birgit gives this advice to clients at the NHS and to homeless people taking part in the SIFA Fireside project. She also hosts Five a Day on a Budget cookery courses to encourage people to learn all they can about eating well.

She says: “I think it is a really important part of a healthy lifestyle to eat the right kinds of foods. Picking good food is a great starting point for creating a better life and I believe it is important to eat good quality food to encourage health all round. Most people wonder how they’ll be able to get Five-A-Day into their diet but it doesn’t have to be difficult. I teach people that growing their own food can really help with self esteem, mental health issues and just improving health in general as being outside means you are exposed to Vitamin D, which improves health.”

See the full article by Patrice John on the Birmingham Mail website.