Is a healthy food just about the nutritional label? Many would say "yes," but a group within the non-profit Prevention Institute says "no." In it's hot-off-the-press report, Setting the Record Straight: Nutritionists Define Healthful Food, the organization offers up a new working definition of healthful food, and it has nothing to do with those 'low-fat' labels in the grocery store.

Over at Food Politics, nutritional expert Marion Nestle recently explained the new definition operates around three principles -- namely, healthful food should be:

• Wholesome
• Produced in ways that are good for people, animals and natural resources
• Available, accessible and affordable

Makes perfect sense to me, but how can this definition transfer to real policy change to re-tool the food industry, or influence how we shop in the grocery store? I shot off an e-mail to Nestle with a similar question. She sees the new definition as "the opening salvo in the anti-processed food movement." Nestle explained in an e-mail that the new definition requires us to rethink food choices, tying what we put in our mouths to climate change, environmental degradation and poverty. Yet tossing solely Wholesome choices in the grocery cart isn't always possible for my family -- three to four nights a week, I'm handing the kids off to my husband and rushing off to grad school, work or Scouts. While I primarily cook with Wholesome ingredients, a frozen/processed rectangle is slid into the oven on occasion.

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Michelle Obama nearly upstaged her husband Tuesday night, when she showed up to his first address to Congress in a sleeveless purple dress ... in the middle of February. She's never afraid to show off those toned and beautiful arms, and they're proof that fitness is a priority in the Presidential household.

Of course, we already knew that. President Obama started out his inauguration day with a workout. That's dedication, folks. And Mrs. O's own friends have called her a gladiator in the gym.

It's not just exercise that keeps the Obama family fit and trim; they also eat a healthy, low-fat diet that's based in locally and sustainably grown foods. Last week, instead of walking the press through the State Dining Room to look at the linens and china, Mrs. Obama invited them into the kitchen ... to look at the food.

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There are some cheap foods out there. It's tempting to buy them when cash is tight, isn't it? Not necessary. Good Housekeeping readers share in the November issue their ideas for living lean with the wallet and the waistline in mind.

• Order online. Peapod online grocery-delivery service is a great way to stock up on goods and view them before checking out (just to make sure you're getting only what you need and only what's good for you). Peapod accepts coupons too.
• Go veggie. Make fun, meatless meals with fresh and healthy ingredients.
  
• Drink from the tap. Get your water free from the tap instead of buying the bottled stuff.
• Order from the kids menu. Cheaper prices and smaller portions. Just pick the grilled chicken with broccoli, not the nuggets and fries.
• Take it slow. Forget the fast food. Use your slow cooker. Try a cheaper cut of meat and let is simmer all day.
• Switch grocery chains. Some are cheaper than others. Do your research.
• Get with the program. The Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program, that is. Organic vegetables will show up right at your door.

From time to time I'll share our family's experience as a half-shareholder in a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) garden down the road.

August is payday for CSA shareholders, and our family's garden investment is hitting big. Colorful veggies are rolling in faster than we can eat them.

Beyond eating organically with the seasons, investing in a CSA garden is automatic inspiration to prepare unusual vegetables you wouldn't see in the grocery store or wouldn't normally think of buying over the summer. I've also researched freezing methods so nothing is wasted. We scored this giant Italian squash last weekend, although I have no clue how to cook it. Luckily, many CSA-folk are outstanding cooks with creative recipes to share.

To date we've received peppers, potatoes, eggplant, basil, cilantro, beans, three different types of squash, four different varieties of tomatoes, turnip and snap peas. The pumpkins are ripening beautifully on the vine. Check out the gallery of photos to see it all -- especially the monster Italian squash. Anyone have a good recipe for that one?

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One of the best pieces of advice I ever read on meal planning was, "Don't be afraid of an empty fridge." Not that you never want to have groceries, of course. But before you go grocery shopping again for a new week, if your fridge is empty, it means your meal planning is right on track.

Eliminating food waste is good for the environment, good for your budget, and as Diet-Blog recently pointed out, good for your diet as well. Processed foods tend to have long shelf lives, so the food that most often gets wasted are the ones that are best for you -- fruits and vegetables. This used to happen to us all of the time. I'd load up on lots of fresh, healthy stuff at the grocery store without planning ahead, then discover much of it in the crisper drawer two weeks later, moldy and shriveled.

Today, however, two days before our next CSA box arrives, I'm proud to say that our fridge is nearly empty. Carefully planning your meals will help you save money on food waste, but it will also ensure that you actually eat all those healthy foods you paid for, and that just adds up to good nutrition.

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From time to time I'll share our family's experience as a half-shareholder in a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) garden down the road.

Just as Bethany loves the veggies pouring in from her family's CSA share, so do we. This is our family's first experience with owning a CSA share and we absolutely love it! It's headed up by a wonderful woman with an immense knowledge of organic gardening -- beyond locally-produced veggies, my thumb is becoming greener.

The plan we purchased requires ten hours of work in the garden. So a couple nights ago I took the kids over for an hour of weeding. I worked up a nice sweat weeding between two endless rows of tomato plants. I showed my son what okra, sweet potato and green pepper plants look like. He ran the perimeter of the two-acre garden and I didn't need to worry about traffic.

At the end of the weeding session, our CSA host had a special surprise. The sugar snap peas were ready to harvest and we were able to pick and take home the biggest, juiciest sugar snaps I've ever tasted. They were like candy off the vine. Here's a gallery of photos of our evening at a CSA -- hope your vegetable garden is yielding plenty this summer!

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In many parts of the country, my own included, growing season is in full swing. That means you may be too late to take part in a CSA this year. But if you get a chance to take part in one, this year or next, I highly recommend it.

This was the first year that we joined a CSA -- short for community supported agriculture. We did it for a lot of reasons, but mostly because of concern over food safety issues. What we have discovered, however, is that it's completely changed our eating habits for the better.

Each week, we get a crate full of fresh grown goodies. Sometimes, I have to use Google to identify something or learn how to cook it. But just having that food in my fridge forces me to be creative and either search for or come up with new, healthy dishes. We're eating far fewer processed foods, less salt, less fat, and have all but cut our meat consumption. Our former favorite dish? Homemade pizza with extra cheese. Our current favorite dish? Sauteed kale with garlic scapes and onion, served over brown rice. I'm totally not kidding.

Living healthy isn't just for us humans, it's good for the planet too! Reap the benefits of a healthier you and a happier Earth by supporting a local farm.

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Not every piece of food in my fridge and pantry is organic, but I do try to buy as much as I can, especially of the foods we frequently eat. So imagine my surprise when I reached for my favorite brand of organic bread last week, only to discover it had nearly doubled in price. Almost always on sale for 2/$5.00, it was now $4.69 a loaf! Nearly $10 for our usual two loaves of bread a week? Not a chance.

Food prices are on the rise and with them go the cost of organics as well. As demand rises, farmers and manufacturers are having to pay more for things like animal feed and grains. Costs passed on to consumers have caused prices to jump anywhere from five to 30 percent. Organics are already 20 to 100 percent more expensive than conventional foods, so at what point will consumers quit buying?

You can save on organic foods by cutting out the middle man (the grocery store). By doing a CSA this summer, for instance, we'll be spending just $18 per week on enough organic, locally grown produce to feed our family of four. But sourcing meat and dairy can be significantly more difficult. How will you handle the rising prices of organic foods? Will you stop buying them or bite the bullet and hope that prices come down?

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Even if I wanted to buy 100% organic, I wouldn't be able to...at least not from my local grocery store. Though they have an increasing variety of offerings, it's a toss-up every week what will be available. So, I try to buy organic when I can and try to scrub really hard when I can't. And I wait patiently for our CSA to start up in June.

Reducing exposure to pesticides is a concern people often have. If you're like me -- part of a family living on a budget -- then it can be tricky trying to figure out what to splurge on. Canadian Living has a few suggestions to help you manage your food dollar while reducing your risk at the same time. For instance, you can:

• Buy the fruits and vegetables you eat most often from the organic section.
• Eat a variety of produce.
• Grow your own or join a CSA.
• Peel before you eat -- though you'll lose a lot of nutrition that way and it isn't always effective.

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I strongly considered signing up for a share or half a share of an organic CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) last spring. I couldn't find a friend to split a share with me and wasn't up for driving to pick up my weekly box of fresh vegetables organically grown 30 minutes away on a CSA farm selling shares to the public. While I plant a small, organic vegetable garden which yields terrific tomatoes, broccoli, spring lettuce, cucumbers, pumpkins and herbs, it's not big enough to provide a wider variety of the veggies we also love -- carrots, beans, potatoes, peppers, and the like.

But after reading Julie's Health Blog this morning on the declining nutrient values in food, I picked up the phone and bought half of a CSA share from a farm much closer, only 15 minutes away. Julie reported on Brian Halweil's analysis of a British study that measured the nutrient value of foods between 1940 to 1991 -- Halweil is a senior researcher at The Worldwatch Institute. In the quest for a higher yielding food supply, nutrients in the U.S. and U.K. food supply are eroding. Here are a few facts Halweil cited from the British study:

• It took three apples in 1991 to equal the iron content of an apple from 1940.
• Potassium in spinach dropped 53 percent, phosphorus by 70 percent, iron by 60 percent and copper by 96 percent.
• Iron content in meat dropped an average of 53 percent. Less nutrient-dense feed grains/forages are part of the problem.
• The higher the yield of corn/wheat/soybeans, the lower the protein/oil, same goes for vitamin C, lycopene and betacarotene in tomatoes.
• Farming strategies to increase yields are good at fostering bigger, faster growing plants, but they do not absorb as many nutrients from the soil.

However Julie raises the big question -- aside from fewer pesticides and nitrates, does organic food have higher nutrient values? According to a scientific review by The Institute of Food Technologists, it's too soon to say.

Other than organic milk, our family does not purchase organic fruits and vegetables at the grocery store -- the main obstacle is price. But I'm excited about our half CSA share. The farm is just up the road and costs $200 for an every-other-week box of just-picked veggies June-November. No genetically modified veggies, no pesticides, no major fossil fuels burned to transport the food thousands of miles either. My CSA requests half-shareholders invest ten hours of work on the farm during the season, and I can bring the kids -- we love digging in the dirt! And as a novice vegetable gardener, I'm looking forward to hanging out with local organic gardening experts. If you'd like to check out a CSA near you, search here.

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As fabulous as we at That's Fit think this blog is, the truth is there are hundreds of wonderful blogs on healthy living to be seen all over the blogosphere. So in this feature, Fit Links, we'll introduce you to some that have caught our eye.

I don't usually make New Year's resolutions, though I'm not sure why. I think it's important to set goals for yourself year round, so whether you make them in January or October, just the fact that you made them is good enough for me. But a fresh new year can inspire you to try to reach a little higher, and this year I've found myself setting a few long term goals, including these that are related to health and fitness:

• Learn yoga. Finally.
• Eliminate paper and plastic bags, for good. (I have reusable bags, and I even sometimes remember to use them. I'd like to use them every time I shop, so consistency is my goal.)
• Walk or run in at least five fund-raising or charity events this year.
• Join a CSA and buy most of my food locally from May to October this year.

Learn how to write your own New Year's resolutions, if you haven't already, and how to keep them as well. And if you need a little help with inspiration, here's a list of some popular New Year's resolutions.

Happy New Year!