Five Reasons to Eat Seasonably

Eating seasonably, or eating locally grown food when it’s in season, is good for the environment, good for you, and good for our community.  Here are five reasons why you should eat with the seasons.

1.  Seasonal produce is better for your wallet.

Walk into any supermarket and you’re likely to find anything you’re craving all year round.  But those blueberries in March are going to put a dent in your wallet.  Buying items out of season means you’re not only paying for the fruit, but you’re paying for shipping and fuel costs for items that were likely grown thousands of miles away and transported to the market.

2.   Items eaten in season are better for your health.

Fruits and vegetables are at the peak of their nutrition at the moment they are harvested.  Martin Lindstrom, author of Brandwashed reported that the average supermarket apple is 14 months old.  Fourteen months!?!  When out of season produce is shipped thousands of miles it is loosing vitamins and nutrients every day of that journey. 

3.  Fruits and vegetables taste better at the peak of their season.

We’ve all had a bad orange that’s turned us off of oranges, but a good orange, at the peak of its flavor tastes amazing.  I think this is especially important when we are offering produce to our children, if it doesn’t taste very good of course they’re not going to like it.

4.  Eating in season makes you a better cook.

Brussels sprouts are in season in early April and I’ve been seeing them in everyone’s baskets and I’ve been coming across lots of recipes on the web.  I’m actually intrigued to try them and if I can make them taste anything near as good as the ones I had at last year I know I’ll be pleased.  Eating what’s available in season gets us out of the broccoli rut.

5.  Buying local items in season is better for our community.

It’s fun to get out to the farmer’s market with your children and pick out what to try for the week, but even if you miss the also supports local farmers and if you look, you can choose seasonal items purchased from our area farms and support our farmers.

Here are some items we can look forward to in April: 

Apples, Asparagus, Avocados, Beets, Bok Choy, Broccoli, Brussels Sprouts, Cabbage, Carrots, Cauliflower, Celery, Cherries, Corn, Fennel, Grapefruit, Lettuce, Mushrooms, Nectarines, Okra, Onions, Oranges, Peas, Pistachios, Potatoes, Radishes, Raspberries, Rhubarb, Rutabaga, Scallions, Spinach, Strawberries, Tomatoes, Turnips

For more information on what’s in season in our community check out the National Resources Defense Council Website.