Why You Should Cook and Eat What is in Season

Have you ever gushed over asparagus or gone weak in the knees for fresh ripe heirloom tomatoes? Have you ever waited all year for the season’s first crop? Well perhaps you should. Building your diet around foods as they come into season can help get you excited about good-for-you ingredients and help propel you towards a healthier diet.  There are many reasons to design your daily menu around what is abundant, ripe, and available locally. Historically, eating foods when nature produces them was the only option because that is all that was available. There were no supermarkets carrying produce imported from all over the world, so if you wanted strawberries in December you were just out of luck. Now it may seem like an advantage or a luxury to have any food we want, anytime we want it, eating foods in season offers many benefits.

Seasonal eating means building meals from foods that have been harvested naturally ripe and ready to eat.  You can find fresh seasonal produce at a grocery store, at a farmers market, or you can become a part of a CSA.  CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture and when you join a CSA, you're purchasing a “share” of vegetables from a regional farmer. Most regions have limited growing seasons, so it’s virtually impossible to eat locally and in season 100% of the time. You can however come pretty close. Most people only think about spring and summer when they think of gardening and fresh produce, but there is actually a great variety of stuff to grow and eat in winter too. Here are some of the advantages of cooking and eating seasonal produce.

Seasonal Produce is Cheaper

This is simply about supply and demand. When something is in season, it can be purchased locally in abundance for relatively cheap in comparison to it’s cost out of season.  A great example of this are the tiny packages of herbs you see in a grocery store during the winter, you know the ones I’m talking about. They usually consist of a few sprigs of basil, usually limp, and cost upwards of $3-4. When you compare that to the large bundles of freshly picked, crisp, and bright green basil you can get at every farmers market in the summer for $1-2 its pretty clear that going with what is in season will save you cash. Of course if you can grow it yourself, you will be saving even more money and have the freshest possible fruits and veggies.

Seasonal Foods Taste Better

There is nothing quite as delicious as a vine-ripened tomato still warm from the summer sun plucked fresh from your back yard. Now think about the last tomato you got in the winter from a grocery store. It was likely a  hothouse tomato that was barely orange, perhaps mealy, and flavorless.  Not nearly as dream worthy right? This is because unfortunately, when produce isn’t in season it must be imported from far off lands, and in order for the crops to make that journey they must be harvested early and refrigerated so they don’t rot during transportation.  They aren’t going to ripen naturally and most times they are not able to develop their full flavor. Foods that have had the chance to fully, naturally ripen before they’ve been picked will taste how they’re supposed to, fresh and delicious!

More Home Cooked Meals

When you buy fresh, in-season, local produce you have to cook more and eat less processed foods. Yes it is more work, but it is of course the best thing you can do for your health. I say have some fun with this and try not to think about meal prep as a chore. It’s a great activity to do with your partner or your kids, and there are practically endless recipes to try for absolutely anything edible.  I like to Google recipes or go on Pinterest for inspiration. Challenge your creativity to come up with unique, fun, and delicious dishes based around something new you found at the farmers market. Cooking seasonally can be an adventure for the whole family.

Add More Variety to Your Diet

Variety is healthy for our bodies and eating a variety of foods can help ensure that we care getting the most complete combination of nutrients possible. According to current nutritional studies we all should be “eating from the rainbow”, or eating many different colored foods every day. This is because different colors equate to different nutrients, and consuming a variety of colors with insure you are getting enough essential vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and fiber.  Eating from the rainbow can also help protect against chronic disease, digestive issues, loss of bone density, and of course help with weight management. 

It’s Better for the Environment

Seasonal produce grows well naturally and without needing to be genetically modified or sprayed with tons of pesticides, which can seep into our soil and contaminate our drinking water as well.

If you are craving something out of season, don’t forget about frozen fruits and veggies.  Produce is picked at its peak and flash frozen, locking in all the vitamins and minerals. This makes frozen produce more nutritious, flavorful, and often less expensive than out-of-season produce imported from other countries. To find out what’s harvested seasonally in your area, go to www.localharvest.org to find farmers’ markets near you and seasonal produce guides.

Nutrition Evolution

Photos by Tenaya Fleckenstein Photography