A restaurant menu focused on seasonal produce is now super cool, but do you know why it’s important to eat seasonally?
Quite simply, when you eat locally and seasonally you know you are eating the freshest, most abundantly available produce. It is better for everyone – you get the tastiest veg, the local farmer benefits and food miles (the distance our food has to travel from the farm to your fork) decreases so you get to save the environment, too. Another unexpected benefit is to reconnect to nature’s seasonal cycle. If you have children, this is especially important as it teaches that food does grow at specific times, a hard concept to grasp when imports from all around the globe ensure that supermarket shelves look the same practically every week of the year.
If you're wondering when you should start, the answer is: now. A survey in BBC Good Food magazine showed we’re not as good as we think at figuring out what is in season when. Of the 2000 people it asked, 86% claimed it was important to shop seasonally, 78% said they were doing it – and yet only 5% could say when blackberries were at their best.
I want to help make 2021 the year that you can embrace this concept. Watch out for my Facebook page (Nutrition East Fit for Life) for regular reminders of what’s in season each month and a little inspiration for what to do with it.
Where to buy seasonally
Farmers’ markets are a great place to find local seasonal veg. Make it your mission this month to find out what’s on near you. Ask friends and family and, if you’re feeling bold, ask the question on your Facebook page to get the quickest response. Failing that, try here:
http://www.findlocalproduce.co.uk/
Having someone else do the hard work and just bring you the goodies is also a good thing. If you’ve never considered getting an organic veg box, it can be an amazing experience. It’ll teach you super fast what is in season when, you’ll get some of the best produce available in your area and delivered to your door, and it will wake you up to the magic of cooking.
I wonder whether this resonates with you. I actually LOVE cooking but with a very energetic husky, private practice and a Lecturer at the College of Naturopathic Medicine, it often turns into a real chore; a juggling act between what I want to eat (usually the same things week in, week out) and what is about to go off in the fridge or cupboards. Inviting a veg box into your life forces you to try something new, and this can be very invigorating. Of course, you can pick and choose the types of ingredients you want and avoid having things added that your family hates, but I urge you to have a go and see what happens.
The following offer a huge variety of veg-only or fruit and veg boxes, some even with a ‘pick your own’ element where you can pick and choose exactly how much of what you have
https://www.riverford.co.uk/shop/veg-fruit-and-meat-boxes
https://www.eversfieldorganic.co.uk
https://www.northernharvest.co.uk
Do check my Instagram page nutrition.east.london for food and recipe inspiration
