This month’s segment of “Inside and Out” looks at getting back to the basics of food.

At a rapidly increasing rate, people are choosing to eat foods that are minimally processed and natural with the belief that eating whole foods in moderation is better than over processed diet foods.

By caring more about food labeling and additives, consumers are valuing whole food diets. This can have a positive sustainability impact when it is paired with eating with the seasons and minimizing food waste.

One local success story is that of “From the Farmer”- a Washington D.C. based start-up that delivers fresh local produce to its subscribers.

With their shared passion for food and how it brings people together, co-founders, Jason Lundberg and Nick Phelps created the company in 2010.

Their goal was to create a company that helps farmers and food makers increase their bottom-line by changing the local economy from ground up. With over 40 local employees, “From the Farmer” has made almost half a million deliveries over the past five years.

“From the Farmer” CEO and Founder Jason Lundberg explains why we all should be eating and buying locally.

How “From the Farmer” delivers

Watch behind the scenes of “From the Farmer” to see how deliveries are prepared and how fresh produce ends up at your front door.

For this month’s Life Recipes, we decided to follow our friends at “From the Farmer” and pick one of their suggested recipes of the week. Check out this kale and sausage stuffed heirloom tomato recipe- a great way to enjoy the delicious end of summer tomatoes.  Click here for recipe link.

Kale and sausage stuffed heirloom tomato

Brazilian TV chef fighting obesity one show at a time
One important reason why people are increasingly choosing to eat fresh and local produce is to lose weight. In Brazil, more than half of the country’s population is overweight or obese. Experts there point to poor diet choices as the main culprit.

CCTV’s Lucrecia Franco introduces us to one of Brazil’s popular TV chefs, Tati Lund. He’s one chef who’s making a difference on diet, one television show at a time.
Follow Lucrecia C. Franco on Twitter @LucreciaFranco

Lund hosts one of Brazil’s popular cooking shows. It is called Comida.org – in English, Food.Org. It’s now in its second season. The idea is to teach viewers that organic, local and seasonal products can make tasty dishes.

In a recent episode she shows how to cook a classic Brazilian stew – with a new vegan twist.

“And “Today I am going to make a moqueca , a traditional dish here in Brazil that usually uses seafood but today I am going to make it with cashew fruit that is delicious. This is it,” Lund explains.
Twenty-eight year old Lund is no amateur. She holds a degree in nutrition – and trained as a chef at New York’s Natural Gourmet Institute. For her current show alone, she has created more than 100 dishes.

Her goal is to inspire Brazilians to eat healthy. Recent studies show that more than half of the country’s population is now overweight, about a ten percent rise over ten years. It is a trend caused by poor eating habits and a sedentary lifestyle.

“It so much easier to go to the supermarket and have everything in a shelf and packages and just open them: pizza, frozen things, frozen is the worse, and people just come home after work put it in a microwave and that is totally wrong,” Lund said.

Tati is also a successful entrepreneur. She has been running the “.ORG bistro” for the last five years in Rio de Janeiro’s well-off Barra da Tijuca zone. With hundreds of loyal customers, she says good nutrition – is also good business.

It’s not an easy job. She has 11 employees, supervises every order and cooks most dishes herself. All ingredients are organic and bought from local farmers.

For now, she says it has been more hard work than high profits, but she swears she hasn’t been sick for years thanks to her healthy diet. And that is nutritional information she is happy to pass on to as many people as possible.