It's March and time to celebrate National Nutrition Month®! 

This is annual celebration that was started back in 1973 by the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. The idea is to get us all to think about the importance of making informed food choices and developing sound eating and physical activity habits

This year's theme is "Food Connects Us." Food is a connecting factor for many of us. Food connects us to our cultures, our families and our friends. Sharing a meal is an opportunity to learn about its preparation, who made it and where the ingredient's were sourced. Health, memories, traditions, seasons and access can all impact our relationship with food. While these factor influence the foods we eat, the foods we eat also affect our health. For more information on National Nutrition Month® or eating healthy all year round, check out the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics website.

What a great time of the year to celebrate nutrition, as we say good-bye to winter comfort foods and hello to colorful, healthy springtime food, which we will begin to see in our local markets. What are some of your favorite springtime foods? There are many to choose from including strawberries, asparagus, baby lettuce and spinach.

Here's a fun recipe that uses several of those spring foods from our Med Instead of Medsrecipe file: Quinoa Strawberry Salad!

Syracuse is a Family and Consumer Science team member for the N.C. Cooperative Extension in Brunswick County. She can be reached at 910-253-2610 or by email at clsyracu@ncsu.edu.