Tips for a Veggie-Filled Life:

1. Rule of thirds – It can help to separate your plate into three sections. One for grains, one for veg, and one for protein. Ideally, the vegetable section should be the largest, then the protein, then grain.
2. Make veggies delicious – Find a blog you love, and try some of their recipes. If you enjoy the way vegetables taste, you’ll be more likely to eat them! Try Love & Lemons and Cookie + Kate.
3. Fit it into the schedule – Feel that you’re way too busy to shop & cook? There are plenty of meal-order services out there that will deliver dinner to your door, and all you have to do is put it together. There are also incredible options for prepared, plant based meals that can arrive at your home ready to eat. Sakara Life & Define Foods are great examples.
4. Plan ahead – What happens when we’re really busy but also want to cook each meal? Sauce is the savior here. If you prepare a couple different sauces at the beginning of the week, you can use them over whatever you make, transforming regular vegetables, grains, & proteins into delicious meals.
5. Sign up for a CSA – Your local farm probably has one of these, where a basket or box of vegetables will be available for pickup or delivery every week. It’s a great way to get local veggies without the hassle of going to the store. Plus you’re sure to have the epitome of whatever is in season for your area!
6. Make it a habit – eventually, it will become second nature to have vegetables at every meal, and you’ll feel odd not to incorporate them!

In many parts of the country, July is when farms are ramping up production, and farmer’s markets are full of all the beautiful produce winter dreams are made of. What better month than to take the Veg Out! 30 ways in 30 days challenge? Our focus this month is on small farms – so register online & download our app, visit your local farm, and start tracking! We’ll be vegging out as well, and you can follow us on Instagram & Facebook to see what we’re eating, cooking, and where we’re going. We’re lucky enough to have Hope Farms as part of our foundation, where we can get produce every Saturday morning (and you can too, if you’re in Houston!). For those of you not in our city, we’ve got a list of helpful informational sites to visit, more information on Hope Farms, and a feature on one of our favorite Houstonians.

Hope Farms
In the Sunnyside neighborhood of Houston, we’re growing a 7 acre farm, with the goal of delivering fresh produce to the neighborhood, which is a food desert, at an affordable price. We do this at our Saturday morning Farm Stand, which is open from 9-noon every week, and is located on the farm, at 10401 Scott Street. We also have a weekly Farm Share, where freshly picked produce is delivered to those who live inside the loop. To find out more about it, and our veteran training program, visit http://hopefarmshtx.org.

#VegOut Spotlight: Marcia Smart
Marcia has been a long supporter of Recipe For Success and our work in the schools, often coming out to talk & demo in our classrooms. We were delighted when she decided to run a fundraiser during this #vegout2018 month! She’s hoping to raise enough money to provide Reynolds Elementary, which is just a few blocks away from Hope Farms with our  Seed-to-Plate Nutrition Education™ program. You can contribute to her fundraiser here.

Finding Farms in Your Area
Check out these helpful sites for farm & market listings in your area!
Local Harvest
National Farmers Market Directory
ATTRA Sustainable Agriculture
USDA Local Food Directory

Share your July #vegout2018 journey!
Tag @r4sfoundation in your posts & use the #vegout2018 & #vegoutwithrfs for a chance to be featured!