Freshly squeezed vitamin boost, anyone?

When the clocks go back, the sun starts beating mercilessly down on my single glazed bedroom window, and the terraces begin to fill up with smiling, wine-sipping students at 2 o’clock every afternoon, I know that Spring has announced itself once again. The season of fresh starts, of forming new and sensible habits, after what feels like the dark, depressed hibernation of winter is upon us. We are all familiar with the proverbial purchase of a year’s gym membership for this exact reason. Don’t do it. There’s a far easier, more sustainable, and less soul destroying way of being kind to yourself: and that is getting into the habit of making your own juices and smoothies.

I am aware of the appeal of certain cleverly marketed, wildly overpriced shop-bought versions. These products are so successful precisely because they have cottoned on to the anti ‘mindless consumerism’ movement; they are careful not to include any artificial flavors or preservatives, make impressive efforts with respect to environmental sustainability and persuade us that they are simply making our lives easier by boosting our vitamin intake and saving us time. All of this would be convincing enough but the real clincher for most of us is that they just look so… healthy. Practically all of us consume far less fruit than we should. It almost seems perverse not to buy this stuff. The genius thing about this is of course that in doing so they are persuading us to invest heavily in both time and money in something we could do at home. For free.

But if that isn’t enough to persuade you, I would urge you to consider the argument for variety. What these products cannot possibly offer us is the vast amount of choice found in the fruit and vegetable sections of our local markets and supermarkets. Aren’t you bored with the same three flavors week after week? Shopping for our own ingredients (and this is a theme to which I will return time and again, being very close to my heart) is an essential way of reconnecting with our food, the lack of which has reached epic proportions in most Western European countries. Convenience has killed off our interest, knowledge and creativity in preparing food, and without these our relationship with food has suffered. Food is much more than fuel for the body. So if you only have time for one kitchen ritual this week, then get yourself a blender and start preparing your own juices and smoothies. You’ll have upped your vitamin intake, learned something new and said no to Fruit For Lazy People all in one go.