Seasonal Food

From Antivist

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Seasonality of food refers to the times of year when a given type food is at its peak, either in terms of harvest or its flavour. This is usually the time when the item is the cheapest and the freshest on the market.
Seasonality of food refers to the times of year when a given type food is at its peak, either in terms of harvest or its flavour. This is usually the time when the item is the cheapest and the freshest on the market.
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The food's peak time in terms of harvest usually co-incides with when its flavour is at its best. There are some exceptions; an example being sweet potatoes which are best eaten quite a while after harvest.
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Produce is at its peak nutritional value when it is ripe. But fruits and vegetables that will be traveling long distances to market aren't picked when they are ripe, but before ripeness. While the produce might gain color and softness on its journey to the supermarket, nutritional value comes through the stem from the living plant. Once harvested, a vegetable is as nutritious as its going to get. And in a double whammy, nutritional value actually decreases every day past harvest.
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By purchasing local foods in-season, you eliminate the environmental damage caused by shipping foods thousands of miles, your food dollar goes directly to the farmer, and your family will be able to enjoy the health benefits of eating fresh, unprocessed fruits and vegetables.  
This page serves as a guide to the seasonality of food. The list below is for foods common in the Northern Hemisphere.
This page serves as a guide to the seasonality of food. The list below is for foods common in the Northern Hemisphere.

Current revision as of 21:32, 29 May 2009

Seasonality of food refers to the times of year when a given type food is at its peak, either in terms of harvest or its flavour. This is usually the time when the item is the cheapest and the freshest on the market.

Produce is at its peak nutritional value when it is ripe. But fruits and vegetables that will be traveling long distances to market aren't picked when they are ripe, but before ripeness. While the produce might gain color and softness on its journey to the supermarket, nutritional value comes through the stem from the living plant. Once harvested, a vegetable is as nutritious as its going to get. And in a double whammy, nutritional value actually decreases every day past harvest.

By purchasing local foods in-season, you eliminate the environmental damage caused by shipping foods thousands of miles, your food dollar goes directly to the farmer, and your family will be able to enjoy the health benefits of eating fresh, unprocessed fruits and vegetables.

This page serves as a guide to the seasonality of food. The list below is for foods common in the Northern Hemisphere.

Contents

Spring

Vegetables

  • Artichoke
  • Bamboo shoot
  • Onion
  • Celery
  • Spinach
  • Radish
  • Rhubarb
  • Carrots
  • Kale
  • Watercress
  • Samphire
  • Asparagus
  • Cauliflower
  • New potato
  • Parsley

Fruit

  • Raspberry

Meat

  • Lamb

Seafood

  • Red sea bream
  • Japanese Clam
  • Flying fish
  • Skipjack tuna
  • Japanese Kokanee
  • Salangidae
  • Sardines
  • Cockles


Summer

Vegetables

  • Eggplant
  • Green Bean
  • Baby Turnip
  • Courgette
  • Bell Pepper
  • Samphire
  • Basil
  • Cannellini bean
  • Broad Bean
  • Runner bean
  • Swiss Chard
  • Peas
  • New potato
  • Tomato
  • Borlotti bean
  • Sweetcorn cobs
  • Chanterelle (mushrooms)
  • Cucumber
  • Okra
  • Bitter melon

Fruit

  • Cherry
  • Blackberries
  • Nectarines
  • Apricot
  • Mango
  • Victoria Plums
  • Watermelon
  • Fig
  • Strawberry
  • Peach
  • Rhubarb
  • Blackcurrant
  • Raspberry
  • Walnut
  • Cantaloupe Melon

Meat

  • Grouse
  • Hare

Seafood

  • Soft shell crab
  • Crayfish
  • Sea Bass
  • Sea Trout
  • Sardines
  • Clams
  • Skipjack tuna
  • Aji
  • Rainbow trout


Autumn (Fall)

Vegetable

  • Carrot
  • Chestnut
  • Pumpkin
  • Sweet potato
  • Lettuce
  • Renkon
  • Turnip
  • Shiitake mushrooms

Fruit

  • Apple
  • Pear
  • Grape
  • Fig

Meat

  • Deer
  • Elk
  • Moose

Seafood

  • Mackerel
  • Salmon
  • Oyster
  • Pacific saury


Winter

Vegetables

  • Carrot
  • Daikon
  • Chinese cabbage
  • Swede (or Rutabaga)
  • Celeriac
  • Turnip
  • Brussel Sprout
  • Pumpkin
  • Beetroot
  • Parsnip
  • Red Cabbage
  • Leek
  • Cabbage
  • Shallot

Fruits

  • Pear
  • Tangerine

Meat

  • Duck
  • Goose

Seafood

  • Sea bass (Grouper)
  • Scallop
  • Pacific yellowtail
  • Pacific cod
  • Monkfish
  • Halibut
  • Lobster
  • Mussels
  • Samosa
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