Seasonal foods are picked at the peak of freshness and offer higher nutritional content with a variety of vitamins, minerals enzymes and anti-oxidants. When you eat with the seasons you can enjoy a rainbow of colorful and diverse foods that are in tune with our natural rhythms and help support our bodies natural cleansing and healing abilities. For example in winter we are supplied with root vegetables that can be cooked in warming foods (think stews, soups and roasts.) Whereas in spring the focus is on green leafy vegetables to promote cleansing and detoxing ready for summer when all the delicious fruits and summer vegetables are available. Eating with the seasons will stop you from having potatoes, carrots and peas on your plate all year round! (I seem to remember having meat and those three veggies a lot as a kid) Many out of season fruit and vegetables depend on waxes, chemicals and preservatives to keep them looking half edible and consequently less nutritious.
So why local? Most foods begin to loses their nutrients the moment they are picked, so the quicker you can get them on your plate the better they will be for your body. Some fruit and vegetables on supermarket shelves were picked up to a year ago and have been in cold storage since! Not to mention some poor little buggers that have been flown across half the world just so you can have apples in December! By eating locally produced foods not only are you helping the environment by decreasing 'food miles' you are also contributing to your community and supporting it's farmers.
Just something for you to think about? I'm no angel at it, my kids want their apples year round and I'd rather feed them an out of season apple than a processed LCM bar. But I am becoming more conscious and increasing the amount of local and seasonal produce I purchase
Have a great day! x
No comments:
Post a Comment