Seasonal eating is more than a passing trend; it's actually a very important aspect of food to embrace for your health and well-being. By syncing your diet with nature’s local cycles, you not only savour fresh, delicious foods but also support local farmers and reduce your environmental impact.
Understanding Seasonal Eating
At its essence, seasonal eating means enjoying fruits, vegetables, and meats that are harvested during their natural growing seasons. Different regions have their own unique growing calendars based on climate and local conditions. This practice allows you to consume foods at their peak in flavour and nutritional value. For instance, tomatoes, aubergines, and courgettes are best in the summer, while squashes and more hearty veg are autumn ripeners.
By choosing seasonal produce, you also make a positive impact on sustainability. Support local agriculture by purchasing fresh goods that have not travelled long distances, which often means a smaller carbon footprint as well.
Why You Should Embrace Seasonal Eating
1. Nutritional Benefits
One of the key advantages of seasonal eating is the higher nutrient content in fresh, ripe produce. For example, vine-ripened strawberries, found in June, contain more vitamins compared to those shipped in from Spain most of the year around, which are always picked early to withstand travel (hence their pale colour and whitish tops). Another advantage is that you will automatically be adjusting the nutrients you take in through the seasons according to need. - For example we need a higher carbohydrate intake in the autumn to cope with the colder whether, and pairing that with increased vitamin A, C, Magnesium and Potassium (all found in our squashes, rainbow roots etc) improves our energy efficiency and our immune system just as the nights are drawing in and the viruses are ready to play!
2. Enhanced Flavour
To be frank, local produce grown, ripened and eaten in season just tastes better! If you've ever been to Greece and had a peach direct from the market you will understand that the peaches that we can buy in the UK most of the year found do not compare in any way whatsoever. Likewise a crisp British apple in October will never disappoint, whereas apples in May June and July that have travelled the seas are often woolly, soft and in my opinion quite a challenge to eat. Many people find that foods they thought they did not particularly like can become seasonal favourites when paired with other seasonal options eaten fresh at the right time of year.
3. Community Support
Eating seasonally often means buying from local farmers or, in the UK, one of the many veg box schemes. These support farmers directly without the need for middlemen and large corporate supermarkets. It means that farmers can get a fairer wage and overtime can work to improve their farms and farming practices to aid soil sustainability. Most of these farmers are either organic, or working towards organic practices, and all care for us and our food, not simply their profits (in contrast to the supermarkets).
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