What is seasonal eating?
Eating seasonally means eating foods that are naturally in harvest at that time of year, such as strawberries in June and butternut squashes in October. This usually goes hand in hand with eating local produce and so also better for the planet.
Why should we eat seasonally?
Taste & Nutrition - fruit & veg are at their tastiest when they’ve just been picked. Foods that are grown and consumed during their appropriate season are more nutritionally dense - a broccoli grown in the autumn has a higher vitamin C content than one grown in the spring.
Value - lower production costs and abundant crops helps keep the price down. Buying fruit & veg in season can be a third cheaper than out of season.
Planet - eating seasonally is a great way of eating sustainably. Out of season produce means flying it from overseas or using intensive farming methods with artificial heating, lighting & pesticides, both use lots of resources and come with a huge carbon footprint.
How to eat seasonally?
Check what’s in season for the current month and aim to buy more of that produce. Choose a few and pop them into a search engine to find some amazing seasonal recipes.
Most supermarkets now have seasonal produce and promote locally grown fruit & veg, check the label so you don’t accidentally buy imported when local is at its peak.
Try out a local farmer’s market, your produce will be coming from local growers making it more environmentally friendly and you will be supporting local businesses at the same time.
Fruit & veg delivery boxes can be a good way to use seasonal produce and they often include hints and tips on how to use them. Just check where it comes from and how it is being delivered to you.
Don’t be afraid to try new things - give that weird alien looking thing (aka kohlrabi) a go, you never know it might surprise you.
