Eat mainly plants
Eat seasonally
Eat locally
Agreed? So why isn't it smpler?
If you go to a farmers' market you will find plant foods which are in season that have been grown locally or reasonably locally. If you have a garden and grow vegetables you will have plants for consumption to hand and what grows in a given season is what you eat.
Now remove those two options. You don't have a vegetable garden or it produces only some of your needs, so you go to the supermarket or greengrocer to buy food for the balance. In those shops you'll be faced with an array of fruits and vegetables in season and out of season and, except for occasionally, there won't be huge variations in price or in appearance of fresh produce. And isn't this dilemma the one faced by most people?
What do you do?
If you are really trying to eat seasonally you'll wander around trying to recall what's in season when, fruit is somewhat easier but what about vegetables?
In simpler former times newspapers used to publish lists of foods in season making it easier for the shopper to locate the best tasting bargains for the week. Now the competing supermarket giants compete to get you in the door to buy boxes and cheap (?) petrol, reccipe books tell you to eat in season as if a divine inspiration should descend and those of us who live in temperate or tropical climates aren't a whole lot wiser.
I'm curious: how do you decide what is seasonal when you go into a shop ...
Not answering your question but last week the local Coles supermarket had asparagus from Mexico?!?! Crazy. I look forward to the start of the asparagus season in the spring. It's bad enough when they bring it in from interstate before the local crop is ready but now to import it out of season is just bad manners.
ReplyDeleteI think the majority of people would only know what was in season from remembering back to earlier days when we got less from overseas ( if they are old enough) or by taking the time to find out. I have seen the occasional mention in the supermarket magazines of what is in season but I am not sure I would believe them. Certain food magazines do talk about what's in season sometimes.
I get all our stuff from the local veg and fruit shop but the local supermarket does have local produce too if you are careful. Its the tinned stuff that seems to come mostly from far away places which I find annoying because there is plenty of local produce to be had.
ReplyDeleteviv in nz
This isn't an easy answer, but there is something very grounding about knowing. It's a kind of literacy. It's not that hard to learn - the sequence of food in your local area. Knowledge gives you a kind of security and sense of empowerment. I can walk into a supermarket and see broccoli looking all green and fresh and know , no way you are going to put one over me mate, that broccoli is fake, it can't come from round here this time of year without a huge invisible coat of chemicals on it. Farmers Markets, and chatting to producers, is a good way not just to buy food but to learn, so that when you do have to supermarket shop, you know. And then, the seasons are different everywhere, but there is a logic to it if you think about what the plants are doing - surviving winter, growing over spring, reproducing over summer and autumn, so things that store food for overwintering, like onions and parsnips and cabbages, over winter, sprouts and shoots like asparagus and broccoli in late winter and early spring, fruits through summer and autumn. And, last resort, I try to do monthly "in season" posts on The Witches Kitchen :)
ReplyDeleteSuch a painful question for me, Rose...
ReplyDeleteHere, in our harsh winter climate, there is precious little local produce available in the shops EVER (especially in winter - it's largely non-existent then). Our shops buy large quantities from the major producers (out of province and even our country). We rely HEAVILY on our stored garden produce all winter long supplementing as little as possible from the shops (as it's all imported).
Come Spring & Summer our local farmer's markets have fresh LOCAL food available so we as a Northern population MUST become accustomed to buying this bounty in bulk quantities, WHEN IT IS IN SEASON, so that we may store it for winter eating. Very few people here do that, instead preferring to shop weekly for whatever bland, high food miles imported offering are on display each week.
Urgh.
Honestly, one cannot just decide what is in season.... you must learn what grows when. I guess for the uneducated, the easiest way to figure out what is NOT in season is anything imported from the opposite hemisphere from you :-P
ReplyDeleteWith our climate, many things just grow year-round. Onions, carrots, potatoes, cucumbers, tomatoes we buy year round.
ReplyDeleteFruit come and go, and their price varies with season, so as you said it's easier.
We also love collecting stuff that grows in the wild. Some people would be surprised to know how much food they can simply gather. Of course here we are blessed with carob, almond and fig trees, but there are also wild herbs, mushrooms, etc.
Coles recently had a half page ad in our main newspaper saying how they sell quality food...except the illustration showed Easter eggs and pepsi in boxes of 24 :-/
ReplyDelete(Oh I had such a long comment and it all got eaten up.)
ReplyDeleteIt took me a long time to learn what was in season, beyond the basics. The supermarkets and fruit shops are completely unhelpful, and not in their best interest for you to only shop seasonally. Also unfortunately for most people, it's simply not a priority.
At the moment I get an organic, locally grown box and farmers markets goodies to supplement- I love doing both as it really shows what's in season.
Great question Rose.