Vancouverscape, a Vancouver based blog covering travel, tech, and lifestyle

As the cold days and nights begin to give way to slightly milder weather, we’re already turning to thoughts of spring and getting outdoors. Along with getting active comes a healthy diet, including fresh fruit and veggies.

Breville recently sent me an Australian-designed Juice Fountain Plus to test drive. The parts are easy to clean and they dry pretty quickly in our dish drainer (most of the parts are also dishwasher safe in the top shelf).

We’ve been experimenting with all sorts of fruits and veggies (from recipes in the user manual to Spud Organic Delivery’s online concoctions).

If you haven’t yet heard of SPUD (Sustainable Produce Urban Delivery), owning a juicer is a great way to get introduced to their organic produce delivery service. Orders are customizable and you can select a weekly or bi-weekly delivery, or simply order a supply of certain items as needed.

A big plastic hamper arrives at your door (and you don’t even need to be at home for the delivery; SPUD will work with you so the box can be left somewhere agreed upon in advance).

[Healthy juicing with apples, beets, carrots, kale, and ginger]

I made the ABC (Apple, Beet, and Carrot) juice from SPUD’s recipe section. Their site is pretty handy: by creating an account, once you decide what juice(s) you’d like to make, you simply log in and add the ingredients to your cart and SPUD will arrange to have it delivered on your next delivery date.

Prices are clearly shown next to each item and the company’s grown tremendously to include baked goods, dairy, meat and seafood, deli, snacks, and other items for delivery.

The Juice Fountain Plus has all the features below plus a handy plug with an easy-to-grab ring, something I’ve not yet come across in a kitchen appliance.

Key Features

– Large capacity 2.6 quart (2.5 liter) pulp container
– Stainless steel cutting disc and cutters surrounded by Italian-made micro mesh filter
– Extracts juice with up to 20% more vitamins and minerals than other juicers
– 2-speed electronic control
– Safety lock mechanism
– Overload Protection LED

– Stainless steel micro mesh filter basket

- Heavy grade polymer body

– Safety locking arm

– 850 watts of power

The juicer’s weight allows its rubber feet to quickly grip onto the counter top. Pulp created during the juicing can be used for soups, in baking, or composting.

The Breville Juice Fountain Plus is a favourite of Australian Joe Cross, creator of the documentary Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead. In the 2010 film, he’s 100 pounds overweight, suffering from a debilitating autoimmune disease. He then travels across the USA, talking to over 500 Americans about food, health, and longevity.

With doctors and conventional medicines unable to help long-term, Joe turns to the only option left, the body’s ability to heal itself. He trades in the junk food and hits the road with juicer and generator in tow, vowing only to drink fresh fruit and vegetable juice for the next 60 days. Across 3,000 miles Joe has one goal in mind: to get off his pills and achieve a balanced lifestyle.

He winds up chatting with over 500 Americans about food, health and longevity. At a truck stop in Arizona, Joe meets a truck driver who suffers from the same rare condition. Phil Staples is morbidly obese, weighing in at 429 lbs; a cheeseburger away from a heart-attack. As Joe is getting his health back on track, Phil begins his own journey of healing.

Joe’s headed to Vancouver on March 24 and 25 for appearances at four London Drugs stores:

March 24: noon to 2 pm, Granville and Georgia; 3 to 5 pm, Broadway and Vine
March 25: noon to 2 pm, West Broadway and Cambie; 3 to 5 pm, Lougheed Hwy & Barnet, Coquitlam

In honour of good health and his upcoming tour, I’ve partnered with Breville Canada and SPUD to offer one lucky Vancouverscape reader a Breville Juice Fountain Plus ($200 value). And to sweeten the deal, SPUD has added to the prize by giving my winner an organic juicing box to get started.

To enter, follow @SPUDVancouver @BrevilleCanada and @Vancouverscape, and RT the following:

I’ve entered to win a Breville Juice Fountain Plus from @BrevilleCanada @SPUDVancouver & @Vancouverscape http://ow.ly/u2N56

I’ll draw a winner on March 24 at 5 pm. Congrats to @visualheart on Twitter! Here’s raising a glass of delicious, nutritious juice your way! Good luck to all entrants. Winner must reside in the Lower Mainland for SPUD organic juice box delivery (juicer will not be shipped outside the country).