Eating fresh local produce is a great idea. But there's no reason to avoid fruits and vegetables because they aren't in season.
Eating fresh local produce is a great idea. But there's no reason to avoid fruits and vegetables because they aren't in season.
Related listening:
Are Hydroponic Vegetables Less Nutritious? (Nutrition Diva #379)
Welcome to the Nutrition Diva podcast. I’m your host, Monica Reinagel and today’s show was prompted by an email from Larry, who asks:
“While most produce is available year round these days, might there be a health advantage to eating produce seasonally, as our ancestors did?”
Eating seasonally can add fun and variety to our menus. In the Spring, we savor the early spring greens, radishes, scallions, and peas. In the early summer, we enjoy beets, strawberries and asparagus. As the summer goes on, we gorge on cucumbers, tomatoes, beans, zucchini, corn, and peaches. In the Fall, we turn to the cool weather crops: apples, carrots, broccoli, and pumpkins.
But for those of us who live in cooler climates, there’s not much to harvest between the last fall pumpkins and the early spring peas—does that mean that we shouldn’t eat vegetables in the winter? What about the string beans and tomatoes we can during the summer? Would getting them out in January break the rules? And there are lots of nutritious fruits and vegetables that are NEVER in season where I live: things like avocados and oranges and olives. Can I only enjoy these when I visit California or Mexico or Greece?
For most of us, It would be impractical to eat only seasonal fruits and vegetables all year round. Moreover, I’m not at all sure that eating strictly with the seasons necessarily ensures the best nutrition.
Eating seasonally may also imply eating locally: choosing foods that are currently being harvested in your area. Because you may be eating these foods closer to when they were harvested, they may offer superior nutrition, texture, and flavor.
Eating locally also promises to decrease greenhouse gas emissions because the food requires less transport and storage. And it’s a boost for local farmers and economies.
You might think that eating in season would also be cheaper, seeing as you would reduce the overhead costs associated with storage and transport of the produce. However, this is not always the case. Small farms don’t have anywhere near the economy of scale that big operations do. So that local, fresh-picked peach may well cost you more than the frozen peaches at the grocery store. Not that it wouldn’t be worth every penny. I’m just saying that the idea that buying only local, seasonal produce will save you tons of money is a kind of romantic notion.
The growth of hydroponic farming has also really changed what foods might be grown in your local area and when! Because they can artificially control the length of the day and the air temperature, hydroponic farmers are also effectively freed from the constraints of traditional growing seasons. They can grow “local” tomatoes in January and spinach in July if they want to.
(For more on the pros and cons of hydroponic farming, check out episode #379)
Seasonal eating practices often play a role in traditional medical systems such as Ayurveda or Traditional Chinese Medicine. These ancient practices often recommend specific seasonal foods, such as the bitter greens that grow at this time of year, for cleansing and supporting organ function.
Some spring vegetables (in particular, dandelion greens and asparagus) are also mild diuretics, which can help rid the body of excess fluids. Although it might seem like foods that make you pee more might be “cleansing” your kidneys, in actuality, these foods simply increase the amount of sodium and water that is excreted in the urine.
Your body’s detoxification pathways work year-round to break down and remove toxins and impurities from your blood and tissues. Eating a lot of fresh vegetables (and cutting back on sugar, alcohol, and other junk food) is good for your whole body and supports all your organs but, in my opinion, your organs don’t need or benefit from seasonal “cleansing.”
There’s something else I want to say about potential nutritional benefits of seasonal eating. Even if we’re eating seasonally and locally, some amount of nutrient loss is inevitable. And this is not as big a deal as you might think. Even if fresh veggies lose some of their nutritional content on their journey from the farm to the table, rest assured that they are still highly nutritious foods.
Freezing and canning vegetables also allows us to enjoy foods out of season and/or far from where they are grown. And, again, although some nutrients may be lost along the way, you’re still getting plenty of good nutrition from them. In fact, freezing foods shortly after harvest may actually preserve more of the nutritional value than shipping them off to the local farmer’s market.
But this isn’t something that we need to worry too much about. In fact, the recommendations for how many fruits and vegetables you should try to eat assumes that some of that produce may be canned or frozen or stored. The inevitable nutrient losses are already factored in. Focus on getting those five servings a day and you really don’t need to worry about the rest.
Here’s the bottom line on seasonal eating: I think it’s a great idea to buy as much local, seasonal produce as you can find (and afford). It’s fun to enjoy different fruits and vegetables as they come in and out of season. But I certainly wouldn’t hesitate to round your choices out as needed with frozen or canned produce or any fresh produce that appealing, and is a good value—no matter where or when it was grown. And, finally I wouldn’t avoid a fruit or vegetable simply for the sake of eating with the seasons.
If you have a question you'd like me to answer, you can email me at nutrition@quickanddirtytips.com You can also leave me a message at 443-961-6206
There’s also still time to join us for the upcoming stronger bones workshop on April 13th. You’ve heard me talk a lot about the nutritional factors that support strong healthy bones. But movement and exercise play just as important a role, especially as we get older. And in this workshop, I’ll be joined by Joanne Fagerstrom, a physical therapist who specializes in the management and prevention of osteoporosis. We’re going to show you how all the pieces fit together, and even enjoy a guided movement session. You can get all the details and register at Nutritionovereasy.com/healthybones
Nutrition Diva is a Quick and Dirty Tips podcast and is supported by a fantastic team, which includes Brannan Goetschius, Nathan Semes, Davina Tomlin, Holly Hutchings, Morgan Christianson, and Kamryn Lacy.
That's all for this episode. Thanks for listening! I'll see you next week.