Photographer: Lionel Rookwood

JoJo's Anna Chin has much reason to smile these days. Firstly, her uptown Coronation market is in its tenth year of business and her push for us all to support our local farmers by eating more local fruits and vegetables has reaped organic dividends. "I'm working closely with the Jamaica Organic Agriculture Movement," she shares on an overcast Monday afternoon at the back of her extremely busy market, "and as such you'll notice produce like kale, rocket, arugula, fennel, galactic, purple mustard and vine-ripened tomatoes".

As if on cue Markus Braun arrives in a pickup filled with organically grown produce from the hills of Santa Cruz, St Elizabeth. "I represent Nature's Harvest" he informs as he unloads and discusses the crop with Chin. Thankfully he has enough time to share some more on Nature's Harvest - a member of the Jamaica Organic Agriculture Movement. "We want," he says, "to contribute to a more diverse and nutritious meal for our health-conscious vegetable lovers, and this we're able to do with these greens considered to be gourmet greens. The appeal," he continues, "is that they can be used either raw or boiled and in many different ways". Nature's Harvest is in fact a young project focusing on the production of organic gourmet greens, speciality lettuce and culinary herbs in an organic and sustainable manner.

Yellow pear and grape tomatoes

As the market fills up with customers and tradesmen, Braun becomes a willing facilitator explaining to a few curious shoppers (ourselves included) the importance and power for example of kale in the diet. "One cup of kale," explains Braun, "affords the body's daily requirement of vitamins A, K and C. arugula is high in zinc and is packed with vitamins A and C and loaded with calcium and iron." Braun, who now has a captive audience, points out the curly, blue-green (or violet-green) leaves on slender stalks. Breathe easier, we're told, with mustard greens - an excellent source of vitamins E, C and A. They're also a great source of magnesium, a mineral that helps smooth muscle cells, like those lining the bronchial tubes and lungs, to stay relaxed rather than constricting themselves and the airways of which they are a significant part. Adding mustard greens to their diets is one way that many persons with asthma can help improve their health, since studies show that magnesium levels are low in many individuals with asthma. We learn that although kale originated in Asia and in the Mediterranean, it has played an integral role in the cuisine of northern Europe. In Scotland, an invitation to dinner was phrased as "come to kale". Thursday Food reckons that "come to Santa Cruz, St Elizabeth" sounds mighty appealing.

JoJo's might not yet have the international name recognition of Whole Foods market, the world's largest retailer of natural and organic foods with stores throughout North America and the United Kingdom, but with the help of farmers like Marcus Braun from Santa Cruz, St Elizabeth already savvy enough to be under an umbrella organisation like the Jamaica Organic Agriculture Movement and producing crops without the use of conventional pesticides, artificial fertilisers, human waste or sewage sludge, we are inching closer to an industry that is legally regulated. We could in the foreseeable future see restaurants and places like JoJo's as designated Organic Destinations.

Discussing organic... From the hills of Santa Cruz, St Elizabeth. JoJo's Anna Chin and organic farmer Markus Braun.

More Kale ideas.
Wash kale well by dunking it in a bowl of tepid water several times and then rinsing under cold, running water. Small kale leaves can be used whole. The larger leaves should be stripped or cut from the centre rib. The rib can be chopped into small pieces and cooked with the leaf or discarded. To shred the leaves, place them in a pile, roll up, and then thinly slice them.

Baby kale can be used raw mixed with other greens in salads. Mature kale must be cooked, as it's too tough to be consumed raw. It can be steamed, but tastes best when boiled or simmered in vegetable broth. Kale is great in soups and stews and is especially good in soups that contain potatoes, barley or beans. Flavour kale with the following: garlic, olive oil, fresh lemon juice, toasted sesame oil, cinnamon, carraway seeds, currants, or toasted pine nuts.
To boil

Traditional ways to prepare kale call for long cooking - about 40 minutes - until it is very soft. Kale can also be boiled quickly, about 5-8 minutes, until it's just slightly crunchy.

To sauté
Boil the kale first for about five minutes to enhance its flavour. Then sauté in oil with onions and garlic for about five minutes.

To microwave
Place the kale, with just the water clinging to its leaves in a covered microwave-safe dish. Cook on high for 7-10 minutes, stirring after four minutes. Let stand covered for three minutes before serving.

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