What are seasonal foods?
- Dr Linnette M. Johnson
- Sep 21, 2024
- 1 min read
Seasonal Foods...
A peach so ripe that the juice runs down to your elbows.
A crisp apple that’s the perfect balance of sweet and tart.
The smell of citrus permeates the air as you peel back the skin of a clementine.
It’s the whiff of an earthy, sweet pumpkin you’re carving up for Halloween.
Seasonal food is produce purchased and consumed around the time it has been harvested, which means that it’s at its absolute peak in terms of flavor and nutritional value.
Eating seasonally is hardly a new trend. Humans have been doing it throughout history, until the very recent past, when transportation allowed the bulk shipment of food from distant countries.
Eating seasonally will provide tons of benefits, but first, I want to know how closely you follow a seasonal produce diet. How often do you buy fruits and veggies that are out of season? Have you ever had a tomato fresh off the vine? You can practically taste the sunshine and earth bursting out of its vs. one from the store, thinking about a tomato from the grocery store - watery, a little grainy, and not nearly as delicious.
Why? Because when tomatoes are grown out of season, they have to travel far to get to you, meaning they’re picked when they’re green and don’t get the chance to develop proper flavor.
When food is grown close by and doesn’t have to travel across an ocean to reach you, its freshness, flavor, and nutritional content are preserved.
What’s your favorite fruit or vegetable from the tree, bush, or vine?
