Seasonal Fruits and Veggies

With all the foreign and exotic foods available in supermarkets today, it's no wonder most of us don't even know that there are natural seasons for each fruit and vegetable that we eat.  It's the time when they grow naturally in your area, without too much help from special fertilizers, pesticides or greenhouses, or without being airlifted and trucked from far-far away.

In this new 'green' world we want to be living in, even your choice of what you eat and when can make a difference.  For example, if you live in the Northern Hemisphere (north of the equator on the globe) then you are experiencing spring, and this is when it is natural to be eating foods like strawberries and asparagus!  They even sound like the perfect foods for this time of year when everything is warming up and getting sunnier and sunnier!  Apples and blackberries are late summer and fall fruits, as are corn and pumpkins.  

When you eat fruits and veggies, or 'produce', out of season, your food may have used more gas and caused more greenhouse gas emissions getting to you than you can feel right about.  So how do you find out which produce is the healthiest and least polluting around?  Find your nearest farmer's market!

Farmer's Markets are sprouting up all over the country, allowing local small farms to sell organic produce to people in your community without shipping it all over the world.  They usually have smaller crops of specialty foods that they can take better care of, and take better care of the soil, too!  Since they are local, they will always be offering what's growing naturally at that time, and that can help you re-learn what the natural growing seasons in your area are!

Make it a family outing every weekend to shop for fresh produce for the whole week, and get to know your neighbors and local farmers at the same time.  It's a kewl way to stay in touch with your community and your health!