Buying seasonal means more than just stocking up your closet. It’s exciting to think of all the new things you get to show off, so while you’re at it, you better stock up your kitchen too.
Buying seasonal food should be part of your yearly rotation. If it’s time to deep clean the house, put the winter coats away, or turn up the heater, it’s also time to change up your grocery list. The benefits of buying seasonal are rarely discussed, so we’re here to shed some light on the produce. It’s hard to know when food is in season in your area, but this website tells you what food is in season in your area year-round. Before we had year-round access to food, this is how we ate as a culture. Our bodies thrive off of eating this way and it can make food much more fun.
Although the country has been swept with the notion of tracking your macronutrients, and these are important, micronutrients have been shadowed in mainstream media. The trend, and cultural shift, has lead to many Americans becoming nutritionally deficient. Buying seasonal food means the food contains more nutrients naturally. Many of which, Americans are severely lacking. If you’ve ever had the feeling of eating more quantity, but still feeling hungry, it could be you’re lacking nutrients. Fuelling your body means more than just caloric intake, it means fueling from the right sources.
Since the food does not have to travel as far, fewer pesticides and preservatives are used to persevere the food, maintaining the natural quality. When food is in season, it’s more likely to ripen to its natural peak, without having to be picked prematurely. That’s why people say vegetables and fruit taste like candy. Because buying seasonally brings out those natural flavors.
“Eating healthy is expensive.” That’s often a retort by people who don’t know the compelling secret. Buying seasonal food is cheaper than nonseasonal food. A radical thought. Healthy food isn’t reserved for the influencers, who post their perfect Acai bowls and Kale salads, to toss them aside once the picture’s taken and eat some french fries.
Since the produce is in season, there’s a lot to grow around. An abundance of supplies means lower prices, as producers try to get rid of excess, without losing money. Which in turn works in favor of the consumer.
So now, not only are you eating better for your body, you’re keeping cash in your wallet. Seems like buying seasonal is an all-around win.
Would you qualify as a creature of habit? That’s not a bad thing, but it’s fun to spice things up a little. Lucky for us, we live in a time with and endlessly customizable cookbook at our fingertips.
Ever heard of Pinterest? In case you didn’t know, the site is full of recipes. Plugin your new ingredient friend to the search bar and watch your screen fill with recipes. Or find new ways to use a common ingredient in your house. Not everything seasonal is exotic, but there’s no need to use the same old ingredient in the same old way.
Pull out the pots and pans. Even if you’ve never been a master chef, there’s a recipe out there for you. You may find a new appreciation for cooking that comes from buying seasonally. Cooking for yourself or another person is an act of compassion. Give yourself the space to enjoy what you’re doing at the moment and don’t focus on anything else.
So turn on your perfect playlist, pull out your seasonal ingredients, and call a friend. Make a date out of it. Food brings people together. And as Mother Theresa once said, “if you can’t feed a hundred people, then just feed one.”
Maybe buying seasonal foods produces anxiety because you have no idea what it is or how to use it. Not to sound like a mom, but if you never try it you’ll never know. Maybe you’ll hate it. No biggie move on to something else. Maybe you’ll be surprised and find a new favorite.
But expanding your palette by buying seasonally does something else. It makes food special. Think about it this way, if we celebrated Christmas or Halloween every single day of the year, it wouldn’t be special. Your palette would fatigue of the celebrations, sweets, and mood. Food can suffer the same fate. We just don’t recognize it as easily because it’s not as in our face as the holidays.
Doing your best to buying seasonal year-round gives you something else to look forward to as the seasons change. It forces you to expand your palette and explore new options. Plus, you’re one step closer to posting seasonally appropriate meals on your Instagram story. You don’t want to be taboo and post a fruit bowl in the middle of December (if you live up north).
Break out of the comfort food zone you’ve created for yourself and see what buying seasonal has to offer you.
The best place for buying seasonal food? Your local farmer’s market. Besides being a perfect morning trip, it’s better for the planet. Buying locally and seasonally reduces the carbon footprint of having to ship food across the country. Although shipping food by plane isn’t putting more planes in sky it’s increasing a flight weight which in turn burns more fuel. Which in turn puts more fossil fuel emissions into the atmosphere.
A movement on the rise as people begin to demand locally grown produce has lead to increases in farmers markets. Many around the country are beginning to offer year-round farmers markets. Making buying seasonal produce easier. They’ll only be able to bring what is growing in the season to their stands. Making weekly trips to farmer’s markets helps you get outside and walk around. Which in turn is better for you than walking through a walled-in grocery store. Make a buying seasonally pact with your group of friends and grab brunch then hit the farmers market after.
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