Until some time in the 1980s, shelling peas and washing clods of mud from carrots was familiar to anyone who cooked. In the last twenty years, the way we buy food has changed immensely. For those who live in areas removed from agriculture, this change has been the greatest. It is now usual to see strawberries in supermarkets throughout the winter, and to buy root vegetables washed and sealed in plastic with no hint that they have been near earth.
Notwithstanding the supposed age of convenience, there are some advantages to buying seasonal foods:
- Most home grown foods in season are still less expensive.
- For those concerned with environmental issues, food being in season can imply some locality as produce flown halfway across the world loses the context of season: Seasonal foods in the supermarket are often grown in the UK and Europe and this means less environmental impact in their transportation.
- Anyone bored with a repetitive diet would benefit from choosing seasonal produce which opens up a world of variety rather than being restrictive. This can be seen when buying from organic, seasonal suppliers such as Organic Republic who sell wild and foraged produce amongst larger varieties of seasonal fruits and vegetables. Here it is possible to buy three or four different kinds of tomatoes along side sorrel, edible flowers, rocket and wild garlic; things we mostly never bother to eat any more.
- There is a difference in taste between a freshly plucked, warm sun ripened fruit and one picked when unripe and then consumed several weeks later. To quote celebrity chef Jamie Oliver's website, "It's a really good idea to buy food that's in season whenever you can. It tastes better and tends to be cheaper than food that's travelled thousands of miles to get to you."
Some fruits and vegetables we like to eat are never going to be seasonal: In the UK fruits like bananas, mangoes and pineapples have to be imported. Companies like Riverford work with specific farms abroad to import fair trade produce without flying it. In certain cases they claim that this can be less damaging to the environment than forcing produce under gas in the UK, as described on their website.
However, they also give the greater portion of the market to local British producers. This model enables a sustainable balance to be struck between eating mainly seasonal, local produce and still being able to have the trappings of modern life such as banana smoothies on a rainy January day. It seems to be an example where looking after local economies then helps people globally and would question the wisdom of giving away all power of choice to large supermarkets and corporations to manage global food logistics.
Seasonality also applies to meat and is possibly even more confused than the fruit and vegetable market. Most people can name a few fruits and vegetables associated with summer but few of us remember which meat was traditionally eaten when. Beyond the false seasonality of the Christmas turkey which has actually led to extreme intensive farming practices, we can generally buy any cut of meat at any time of year.
Seasonal Eating for City Dwellers:
- Try getting food delivered from a reputable organic box scheme such as Riverford. These no longer require direct debits or regular commitment. This kind of scheme tends to supply less common produce at an affordable price such as Jerusalem artichokes, wet garlic, wild strawberries and mutton.
- Look for schemes which deliver organic seasonal fruit for offices.
- Grow something edible. Planting fruit and vegetables is the best way to know what should be in season when, as well as getting instant access to fresh produce. This does not have to involve much more than an indoor windowsill. Easy plants to grow indoors include capsicums and herbs. For anyone with a balcony, large tomato crops can be achieved from just one grow bag. Many varieties are now available from Black Russians to tumbling cherry tomatoes.
- Sprouted shoots grow indoors at any time of year for delicious and nutritious salads. Try cress, alfalfa or beetroot for ease and then experiment with more bulky varieties. Get a good sprouting guide as soaking and sprouting times are important in getting tasty, safe results.
- Lazy gardeners with large gardens could opt for planting indigenous fruit trees. Peach, apple, cherry, plum and pear trees need a little tending but not as much as whole vegetable crops. Grape vines are ideal on sunny brick walls. Hedges and rambling vines are equally simple to plant; wild strawberries, blackberries and redcurrants are easy to introduce to any outside patch.
- Preserve foods in traditional ways like jams, pickles and chutneys or use modern methods such as freezing and dehydrating to get the most of your produce and year round flavors of seasons.
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