Pumpkin spice

What Does it Mean to Eat Seasonally, and Why Does it Matter?

It’s pumpkin spice season! Everything comes flavored with this commercialized version of combining cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger. You could probably fill an entire grocery cart full of only pumpkin spiced items this time of year. It may not be surprising to find pumpkin spiced beer, potato chips, butter, and cookies in the aisles. But did you know they even spice up Spam, Kool-Aid, Mountain Dew, and Crest? What’s next – pumpkin-spiced deodorant?

Here’s the first rule of eating seasonally; if it comes in a can, bottle, plastic wrapper, or through the window of your car advertised as pumpkin spiced, it’s terrible for you. About the only time you should consider eating what used to be pumpkin pie spice is a homemade pie at Thanksgiving.

What does seasonal eating mean?

Seasonal eating emphasizes fruits and vegetables that are currently ripe and local. Before massive refrigeration facilities, shipping and trucking, and eventually, the science of agriculture turned our food providers into mega-corporations, we ate what local farms produced. How old do you think your grandmother was before she saw her first avocado or mango?

Today, we can get almost any fruit, vegetable, meat, or seafood all year round. If you want fresh strawberries in Minnesota in January, any grocery store has them. How about Alaskan salmon in Alabama? You bet! How many fruits and vegetables can you find at Whole Foods today that you wouldn’t even recognize?

Everyone knows that a tomato picked out of your garden or purchased at a farmer’s market tastes better than a store-bought one. Why? Because that tomato in the grocery store didn’t spend enough time on the vine. A machine picked it rock-hard and green. Then they loaded it on a truck, delivered it to the warehouse, and gassed it to make it red weeks before it hit your produce aisle. That tomato isn’t ripe. It’s rotten.

When you eat a local tomato, it’s fresh off the vine and onto your plate in days, if not hours. It’s the best tomato in the world and only available for a limited time. Now that’s eating seasonally!

Why does it matter?

Seasonally eating is essential for several reasons, but the number one benefit, as we mentioned, is that your food tastes better. It’s not simply the freshness that lights up your tastebuds; it’s the variety you experience from eating different seasonal delights. When we get our food from the store, we tend to eat the same things repeatedly. Think about the produce you buy. Do you always get the usual stuff? Have you ever thought, “I wonder what a rutabaga tastes like?” as you reached for that boring old potato?

Another benefit of staying away from factory-farmed foods is pesticides sprayed on produce and the antibiotics fed to animals. Are you familiar with the term GMO (genetically modified organism)? Corporations want you to believe that GMO means some kind of cross-bred heirloom tomato or fruit like a kiwi. What it really means is that they genetically altered the plant to resist chemicals like Roundup. They spray that aerosolized poison over everything, and the only living thing that survives is the crop. Oh, and then you eat it.

Lastly, seasonal eating is better for the planet. Whether climate change is your thing or not, you can’t believe that eating a banana grown in India or China and transported thousands of miles to your mouth is a plus for any environment.

How to eat seasonally

You could head down to the farmer’s market to pick up your meat and produce, but buyer beware. The ever-growing popularity of these types of markets has led to many resellers. It’s not uncommon to see a pineapple with a Dole sticker for sale in Wisconsin. While most fakes are easy to spot, others require closer inspection. In some areas, farmer’s market prices get inflated, so enterprising individuals go to Kroger’s or Albertson’s to purchase their “local” products.

The first thing you need to know is what’s in-season where you live. In the U.S. alone, we have all sorts of geographical and seasonal products. The season for carrots in Florida may not be the same as in Maine. Check out the Seasonal Food Guide to learn the best time to eat the food in your area.

More importantly, though, get to know your local farmers. Food cooperatives are available in almost any city or town in America. These co-ops will deliver fresh produce, meat, and eggs right to your door or a local pickup location. Another option is to Google “organic farms near me” to locate a farm that you can visit. Many of these farms offer tours to educate customers on where their food comes from and sell directly to you on-site.

Sure eating seasonally may take a bit more effort, but your body, the environment, and your local farmer will thank you.

So what’s on your plate? Do you know how it got there?

 

Take care, even down there.

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