If you are like me, you are always wondering which fruits are the best to eat but also when should you eat them? More and more we hear about eat local produce and eat what’s in season. The reason for this is:
1) Support your local Farmers
2) When you buy fruits and vegetables that are NOT in season:
- They have to be brought to you across long distances, if not from across the globe. In fact, some statistics suggest that fruits and vegetables at your local supermarket travel between 1500 and 2500 miles before they get to you.1 Doesn’t suggest “fresh,” does it?
- They are picked while still immature, to ensure that they don’t spoil along the way. Not only does this affect the fresh taste and aroma of your fruits and vegetables, it causes vitamin degradation and nutrient loss.In fact, researchers from the Austrian Consumers Association have confirmed that vegetables picked and frozen while in season are actually higher in nutrients than the same ones that were transported off season, from abroad!2
- Shipping fruits and vegetables over long distances has a huge impact on our planet: increased greenhouse gas emissions, atmosphere pollution, and depletion of the earth’s limited energy resources!
(#2 was copy and pasted from http://bodyecology.com/articles/benefits_in_season.php)
So to help you figure out what is in season this Spring and Summer here is a clipping I took from my local paper, the Democrat and Chronicle here in Rochester as a Seasonal Fruits and Vegetable Calender I picked up at Four Brothers Winery on Seneca Lake. I hope this helps.
