Growing up, summers spent with my grandparents meant eating delicious treats fresh from the garden and selling fruits and vegetables from the back of a pickup truck. 

The first taste of a sweet, juicy peach from Arnold Fruit Co. last week offered a welcome flashback to those summer memories.

In the big scheme of things, it’s pretty amazing that the foods that are healthiest for us are also naturally delicious. 

But, in our busy world, we often choose foods that are quick rather than healthy, and processed rather than natural. And, it's taking a toll on our health. 

We Oklahomans are dead last in the nation for fruit and vegetable consumption, yet we lead the race to be dead first as our average lifespan gets shorter. 

As part of the effort to address our nation’s growing obesity epidemic, the federal government recently launched new, simplified dietary guidelines that replaced the old food pyramid with “My Plate.” (www.ChooseMyPlate.gov)

Ultimately, the new “My Plate” recommendations urge us to cover half our plate at meals and snacks with vegetables and fruit. That might mean eating twice as much produce as we do now.

http://muskogeephoenix.com/features/x541067945/Eat-your-fruits-and-veggies