02 Jan New Year, New Seasonal Produce!
We have always promoted eating seasonally and with it being a New Year we thought we’d let you know the produce that’s at it’s best now and remind you of the benefits of eating seasonally.
To put it simply, eating seasonally is eating foods when they’re at their best for example, eating fruit and vegetables at the same time/season in which they’re being grown.
Eating Seasonally has many benefits which include;
- Your health. As we mentioned, eating seasonally means eating produce at the time it is produced. It is healthier consumer produce in this way as it is fresher. When produce is stored and in some cases shipped this damages its nutritional content. This shows how it’s not only important to eat seasonally but also to consumer local produce as it minimises the chance of its nutrients being compromised.
- Your taste buds. This relates back to food being stored and traveling and not being as fresh as it could be, the fresher the food, the better it’s going to taste. Produce that isn’t seasonal and has had to travel is often picked before its prime to try and avoid it spoiling on the way. In contrast, local, seasonal produce can be picked at its best as there is not this worry. When produce is picked when it’s ready in its season is when it will taste the best.
- Your pocket. Again, this relates to produce being local and not having to travel so far, this keeps costs down and therefore you will find that seasonal produce is cheaper. In addition to this, seasonal produce relies more on the season it’s growing in and therefore no costly techniques have been applied to grow your fruit and veg which are reflected in the shelf price.
- The environment. You guessed it, produce being local and having a shorter travel distance is also a positive for the environment as it ensures it has a lower carbon footprint than produce flown in from abroad. Also, as we mentioned, seasonal produce relies more on natural or organic farming techniques which minimises the damaging impact on the environment that other methods can have.
So, you are now probably back up to speed as to why eating seasonally is a great choice to make, hey, why not even make it one of your New Year’s resolutions!?
Now that you know why it’s important to eat seasonal, let’s get down to the important part, what’s in season now that you can start experimenting with!
Fruit and Veg
Fruit and veg is a great place to start and even better if you’re setting yourself the challenge of Veganuary! Here’s a list of the fruit and veg that is at it’s best now;
Apple, Beetroot, Brussel Sprouts, Cauliflower, Celery, Kale, Leek, Parsnip, Pear, Rhubarb, Sweet Potato, Turnip
Seafood
For those of you who seafood is more of your thing, you’re in luck as the following are now in season;
Cod, Mussels, Oyster, Whiting
Meat
We are lucky that meat staples such as chicken, beef and pork are in season year round but make sure you take the time to try these other meats that are currently in season;
Goose, Venison
A great way to get yourself started on a seasonal diet is by booking a virtual cooking lesson with us in which we can teach you how to make delicious dishes from the best seasonal produce! Contact us today to book your lesson.
