Benefits of Eating Seasonal Produce
The fresh food we eat is grown and harvested during certain seasons. Eating food when it is typically in season in your area has many benefits that affect your wallet, your health, and your taste buds.
We will discuss the benefits of seasonal produce and why you should be connecting with a local CSA or farmer's market to get you the best produce possible.
Why Is Seasonal Produce Better?
Buying seasonal produce is an all-around better choice than buying produce when it's out-of-season. Your taste buds, your wallet and your body will thank you.
Tastes Better
The shorter the time between when your produce is harvested and when you eat it, the fresher it is.
Out-of-season produce typically comes from a very long distance away. By the time it travels so far to get to your grocery store, it has lost some of its flavor due to being picked before it is ripe and being left in cold storage until the truck gets to the produce distributor.
You may be thinking "if my produce is shipped from California, isn't it still in season if it starts there?" This may be true; however, since the produce has lost some of its flavor during storage and transport, it has to be pumped full of chemicals and artificial ingredients to make up for this loss.
Seasonal produce is locally grown in most cases. There are only a few days between when it is picked and delivered to your local grocery store fresh. Your food tastes much better when it is fresh-picked.
Cheaper
Buying seasonal produce also saves you money. Produce that is picked in traditional growing seasons often gets a break on pricing because the market has more supply versus when you produce out-of-season. You can save up to half of what you would normally pay for fresh fruits and vegetables when they are in season locally.
Seasonal produce also saves you money because it doesn't have to be transported with refrigeration from another state or country.
Higher Nutritional Value
Fresh, seasonal produce is higher in nutrition than out-of-season. Produce loses vitamin and nutrient content as it decays, and it starts to decay the moment you pull it off the vine.
Seasonal produce is normally grown locally and delivered relatively quickly after harvesting. This means that in-season produce will have the highest nutritional value over produce that's frozen or delivered from out of the area.
More Environmentally-Friendly
Seasonal produce is less harmful to the environment. Think about how long it takes for a strawberry or a mango to get from a farm on the other side of the world to your plate. Think about all of the energy expended in growing, harvesting, and transporting that fruit or vegetable.
In most cases, seasonal produce is also locally grown because of the weather and the growing conditions. Not only does this mean better tasting foods, but it also means less energy is needed to grow and transport your food.
Avoid Contaminants and Chemicals from Overseas Produce
Since your food is locally grown, you don't have to worry about the long list of chemicals and contaminants that often show up in produce from overseas. The FDA keeps a watchful eye on produce from overseas, but it can be quite difficult for them to monitor all imports coming into the U.S.
In some cases, fruit and vegetables that are picked before they are ripe and then treated with chemicals to speed up the ripening process end up in your local grocery store. This means that unless you choose organic produce, you may be ingesting some harmful chemicals along with your fruit or vegetable.
What To Look For When Buying Seasonal Produce
Look for locally grown fruits and vegetables to buy in season. Your produce will taste better, be healthier for you, and save you money over purchasing produce out-of-season or from overseas.
