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NatalieMaynor on flickr
There are many healthy virtues associated with seasonal eating—foods harvested in the season you are in—using it as a means to align yourself with nature and keep your body healthy. Local Harvest is a wonderful resource for identifying seasonal foods in your area.
Spring is the time to focus on enjoying tender, leafy vegetables that flourish in the cool weather including swiss chard, spinach, romaine lettuce, green onions, parsley, cilantro and basil.
In Summer, stick with light, cooling foods. These foods include fruits like strawberries, blueberries, raspberries and plums. It's also a great time to enjoy vegetables like summer squash, broccoli, cauliflower, corn and tomatoes.
Autumn is the time to consume more warming autumn harvest foods, including apples, pears, carrots, potatoes, sweet potatoes, pumpkins, onions, and garlic. It is a wonderful time to emphasize warming spices and seasonings including ginger, peppercorns, and mustard seeds.
In Winter emphasize warming long storage vegetables like those enjoyed in Autumn. Remember the principle that foods taking longer to grow are generally more warming than foods that grow quickly. All of the animal foods fall into the warming category including fish, chicken, beef, lamb, eggs and dairy.
Foods consumed year round are grains and pulses (legumes), wheat, sorghum, millet, dried corn, rice, buckwheat, barley, oats, black beans, kidney beans, lima beans, green beans, peas, lentils, chickpeas, buckwheat and nuts.
Balance is the most important thing to remember when choosing any dietary path: don't forget to have some fun and to eat healthy foods that make you feel good.
The virtues of growing and eating locally in season are many; buying and consuming locally supports things like Spin Farming which advocates sustainable farming practices on very small plots of land and can be a very lucrative and eco-friendly alternative to consuming food that has a large commercial trucking carbon footprint.
According to The Hundred Mile Diet—which encourages eating foods that come from no further than 100 miles away—the idea is that everyone can find most of what they need close to home, and doing so allows consumers to support farmers in their community, serve the environment, and support their health at the same time.
Please note that the advice given above is only our opinion, based on experience, and is not meant to be either definitive or prescriptive. Thanks!
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i am fortunate to have a farmer's market a couple blocks away from my home. it is in a recently refurbished streetcar barn that has been made into an amazing community centre. during the winter months, we get some vegetables (potatoes, sweet potatoes, carrots, cabbage), lots of baked goods including very healthy bread, some nuts and sprouts. at least at this time of year, we can't do all our shopping there, but it is where we start each saturday morning. it is such a wonderful addition to our neighbourhood.
in the summer, we often shop at a farm near our cottage. it is a family farm and produces a wonderful variety of produce.
in both places, we are buying pretty directly from the producers. it is good for us and it is good for them.
when in the larger supermarkets, i am always very conscious of where the produce comes from. i don't always get what i want, but i just can't buy apples from south africa.
now i just have to work on my own garden plot. i'm working on how to share the backyard with the dog. some for him, some for me.