groundbreakers
FROM
PROCESSED FOODS
TO FRESH PRODUCE:
VANESSA SHIM
BY KAREN
WILKINSON
138
THREE YEARS AGO, VANESSA SHIM’S CUPBOARDS WERE FILLED
WITH MORE PROCESSED FOODS THAN FRESH PRODUCE. TODAY,
SHE HAS TURNED HER FAMILY’S DIET COMPLETELY AROUND.
Her kitchen cupboards were once lined with processed
foods—think Oreos, Cheez-Its, and the like. When
she bought fresh vegetables from the store, they
often turned before being eaten. Eventually, however,
Vanessa Shim realized the lack of fresh produce in her
family’s diet. So, the yoga teacher and mother of two
living in El Dorado Hills decided to shift her family’s
eating habits and take a more hands-on approach by
growing the food herself. “I have always liked the idea
of growing my own food,” says Shim, who does not
consider herself to have a green thumb.
That was nearly three years ago. Today, Shim can
proudly say she rarely buys lettuce, spinach, or herbs.
Going to the store for produce is now the exception
rather than the norm. She currently grows 10 varieties of lettuce and four types of kale, and
her aeroponic vertical garden produces enough leafy greens to make at least one salad
a day, along with a big blender of green smoothie that can be split between herself, her
husband, and her kids. “It makes it so that I try to use what I have on the tower before I buy
anything,” Shim says. “The only time I can’t eat off it is when I just plant.”
Her kids also willingly eat vegetables off the vine and even assist in the growing process.
And she’s pretty sure that, somewhere along the way, her own taste buds underwent a transformation, as did her attitude toward certain vegetables.
Maximum Yield USA | December 2016