Family-Owned Produce Stand Has Country Charm

Jimmy, Mary and Jamie Cummings own and operate Lil' Shack.

Traveling down West Meyer Road you can’t miss the big American flag mounted on the barn-red produce stand welcoming passers by.  In their second season, the Cummings’ family own and operate Lil’ Shack, brimming with countless varieties of homegrown fruit and vegetables.  The business is booming compared to last year. “We had never done anything like this before,” the Cummings said. A concrete foreman for J. H. Berra, Jimmy ran a paving crew for 28 years. Mary worked in food service at the Wentzville School District. Now retired, they needed an outlet for their energy. To prepare for their new venture, the couple attended a small farmer’s convention at the Boone County Fairgrounds in Columbia, MO. They asked questions and spoke to farmers …

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Nutritious Bites

Making the Shift to Healthy Eating

Incorporate more fruit and vegetables into your diet.

January usually brings a resolution to lose weight, eat healthier or work out more, and often by this stage of the month the resolution has fallen by the wayside. If your goal was to eat healthier, there are some simple tips to make this happen. This week, I attended a workshop at the Culinary Institute of America. The goal of the workshop was to boost the inclusion of vegetables, whole grains and beans into the American diet. One of the main concepts of the workshop was incorporating beans, veggies and whole grains not just plopping them on a plate and hoping that your family will eat them. A few of the ideas for inclusion included using beans in place of some of the meat in chili, making oatmeal by adding a variety of other grains and …

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