Eat Produce Seasonally!

What Is Seasonal?

Ideally, we'd always buy fresh fruits and vegetables at the height of their growing season because they're better and cheaper. Think about the pricey, pinkish tomatoes in stores in January, compared with the red, juicy bargains of this time of year.

But it's not always easy, especially in winter. One approach is to make menus seasonal whenever possible and then augment them with preserved goods. High-quality frozen, canned, and jarred produce is increasingly available in stores, and home canning is making a comeback. In addition, more local growers are preserving and freezing peak produce and selling it at winter farmers' markets. Many vegetables and fruits -- green beans, corn, peas, edamame, berries, and mangoes, to name just a few -- freeze well. Tomatoes, peaches, nectarines, and pears are canning stars.

But even in winter, there are many seasonal delights to be had: oranges, grapefruits, pomegranates, winter squashes, spinach, cabbages, broccoli, carrots, potatoes, kale, parsnips, beets, Swiss chard, and more.

How Seasonal Stacks Up
 Flavor
 In-season, fresh produce tastes best -- if it's grown well and consumed soon after picking. But out of season, the argument can be made that fruits and vegetables frozen at the height of their season are more flavorful than those shipped from far away. Freezing maintains flavor better than canning, but it can damage texture. Frozen berries make good smoothies, however, and frozen vegetables work well in stews, braises, and other hearty winter fare.

Food Safety
 One consideration is where produce is grown. In general, U.S. growers use lots of pesticides, but tests show that imported produce has more residue. Imported produce tends to fill seasonal gaps here (grapes, for example, which are high on the residue list). Check packages of frozen fruits and vegetables for their country of origin. Lots of processed food is imported. China, which increasingly exports fresh and processed fruits and vegetables, including organic ones, has had major problems with food contamination and lax production practices in the past few years.

One interesting benefit for frozen and canned goods: According to Organic Center, an advocacy group supported by organic-food companies, freezing or canning can actually reduce pesticide residue in some fruits and vegetables, via washing, peeling, or cooking. Apple juice and applesauce, for example, contain less residue than fresh apples. Processed green beans have only a tiny proportion of the pesticides found in fresh, and canned peas and tomatoes are cleaner than fresh. But processed strawberries show little difference. Presumably, thorough washing and peeling of fresh produce would achieve the same results at home, though the study doesn't say.

Cost
 Come January and February, farmers almost can't give away all the beautiful kale; in summer, it's tomatoes and zucchini. In general, fresh fruit and vegetables cost less than frozen or canned, according to USDA analyses. But that varies by season and region, so it's best to check for yourself.

Environment
 Buying South American asparagus or grapes in winter requires more fossil fuels, which can generate more pollution, than buying foods grown closer to home. Out-of-season hothouse and hydroponic foods, such as tomatoes and lettuce, may also require significant amounts of energy if growers are not using energy-efficient methods.

Nutrition
 Seasonal means better nutrition because many out-of-season vegetables and fruits -- say, winter peaches from South America or avocados from Mexico -- have to travel long distances and lose nutrients along the way.

In deep winter, frozen and canned vegetables are good options; they tend to be picked fully ripe at the height of the season, their nutritional peak. Canning without cooking can preserve most nutrients. Watch out for salt in canned vegetables, however, and sugar added to canned fruit and some frozen berries.

Bottom Line
 We've become spoiled by out-of-season produce, but it's time to get back to basics. Buying with the season saves money, helps you stay local, and makes for the best-tasting food. Canning and freezing can help. Think of how incredible that first fresh strawberry will taste if you've had to wait all winter for it.

Thanks to Whole Living.com. Read more here.