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Some
health-supporting holiday gift ideas
Dec. 06, 2007
Suzanne Havala Hobbs
How
are you doing on your holiday shopping? Need some help?
I don’t have all the answers, but I may have a few.
The ideas I’ve listed here are practical, low to moderate
in cost and quick and easy to get your hands on. Best of all,
you can feel good about giving these, because they all support
health.
* Lunchroom culture. Revive your middle school or high school
student’s interest in packing a nutritious lunch of
leftovers from home with the Zojirushi Mr. Bento stainless-steel
lined lunch jar. This Japanese-style lunch jar has four separate
containers that stack, one on top of another, and fit into
an insulated cylinder. Containers are sized for a traditional
Japanese-style lunch of soup, rice, entrée and vegetable.
The jar comes with a nylon carrying bag and set of chopsticks
in their own skinny plastic box. Cost is $36.68 on Amazon.com.
* Armchair nutritionist. For the athlete in your life: Nancy
Clark’s Sports Nutrition Guidebook, Third Edition, by
Nancy Clark (Human Kinetics Publishers, 2003, $19.95 paperback).
A registered dietitian and consultant to the Boston Celtics,
Clark shares reliable nutrition advice for pros and the rest
of us, too. Other good choices: The New Becoming Vegetarian:
The Essential Guide to a Healthy Vegetarian Diet, by Canadian
dietitians Vesanto Melina and Brenda Davis (Healthy Living
Publications, 2003, $21.95 paperback) and Child of Mine: Feeding
with Love and Good Sense, the revised classic for parents
by Ellyn Satter (Bull Publishing, $16.95 paperback).
* Foodie favorites. A large bag of pistachios from Costco,
World Market and other stores; a case of fresh grapefruit,
navel oranges or juicing oranges from Florida; whole, organic,
fair trade coffee beans; and fresh fruit-of-the-month club
subscription from Harry and David (moderate to “big
splurge” in cost, depending upon the version you buy).
Also good: cardamom or chai tea bags (I buy mine at Trader
Joe’s or an Indian food market) or T-Plus masala, a
loose spice blend available at Indian grocery stores that
you mix into hot tea with milk. Stainless steel whisks and
multi-colored latex-top spatulas fit well into Christmas stockings.
So does a large, wooden muddler for mashing lemons, limes,
mint and other herbs. It’s a bartender’s tool,
but you can use it to prepare nonalcoholic beverages, too,
and use it for all of your other muddling needs. Gift cards
to a natural foods store are also thoughtful.
* Tools and fun stuff for cooks. I love my little Gemco Nut
Chopper. For less than $5, it has a glass container, steel
blades and a hand crank. Easy to use, effective and dishwasher-safe.
I’ve tried fancier models, including a mini food processor,
but nothing I’ve tried works as well. Also low-tech
and reliable: the Metrokane Mighty OJ Juicer. Under $40, I’ve
used mine for years to squeeze juice at home. Easy to clean
in the dishwasher. Also nice from local, North Carolina fine
craft stores: wooden cutting boards, salad bowls and Lazy-Susan
revolving serving trays.
* Good deeds. Donate to your local North Carolina food bank.
Also consider giving to Freedom from Hunger, an international
development organization working in 17 countries to support
innovative, self-help programs to fight chronic poverty and
hunger, especially among women and children. This nonprofit
group is noted for developing the first integrated microcredit,
nutrition and health program to help very poor women acquire
business skills that enable them to feed and educate their
children. Check it out online at http://www.freedomfromhunger.org/.
Who said holidays can’t be fun and support health, too?
Any of these gifts will give you a head start on those New
Year’s good-health resolutions.
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