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 Seasonal Produce: You Can't Beat the Flavor or the Price |
10 Mar 09 |
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By: Chris Robertson |
Seasonal Produce: You Can't Beat the Flavor or the Price
When it comes to selecting fresh produce, it's all too easy to get into
a rut. With the globalization of agriculture, seasonal fruit and
vegetables are a thing of the past. Fresh produce can be flown into our
local supermarkets from around the world, and we are no longer exposed
to the seasonal limitations imposed by Mother Nature. Strawberries in
January? No problem! Oranges in July? Ditto!
Those who advocate buying and eating only locally grown fresh fruit
and vegetables often speak from a position of reducing carbon emissions
from planes, trains, and trucks used to transport produce around the
world. Others buy locally because they want to reduce our dependence on
big agribusiness and instead support small farms near where they live.
While both viewpoints are valid, there are four other great arguments
for buying and cooking vegetables and fruits that are grown locally:
diversity, flavor, price, and nutrition.
Diversity
When produce is available year-round, we tend not to experiment
with seasonal fresh fruit and vegetables. If zucchini is always front
and center, we can easily overlook the pattypan and yellow crookneck
summer squashes, or the dense butternut and acorn squashes of the
winter. Similarly, why try persimmons, kiwifruit, or quince if seedless
grapes are easy to buy and always available? Eating seasonal produce
not only creates an awareness of the shifting seasons, but also
challenges us to expand our culinary horizons and try new techniques
for cooking vegetables.
Flavor
Although many of us grew up and live far from agricultural areas,
anyone who has ever plucked an apricot from a tree and tasted the
warmth of the sun along with the sweet juiciness of the fruit knows
that seasonal produce has exponentially more flavor than fruit and
vegetables that are flown in and stored in produce warehouses. There is
much chest thumping and lamenting about how Americans don't eat enough
fresh fruit and vegetables, but few acknowledge that flavor is all too
often sacrificed for the sake of appearance. In many instances, strains
are cultivated for their ability to withstand transport and for a
uniform appearance; in other cases, transport times dictate that fruits
have to be plucked when they're green, preventing them from developing
the full-bodied flavor that nature intended. Just think - when was the
last time you enjoyed the tender juiciness of a vine-ripened tomato or
the succulence of a ripe pineapple just off the plant?
Price
When compared with pre-packaged foods and snacks, fresh fruit and
vegetables are always a bargain. Nonetheless, seasonal produce is even
less expensive than that which is flown in from halfway around the
world. Patronize a local farmer's market, and you not only get produce
bursting with flavor, but you can also buy it at a fraction of the cost
of your local supermarket.
Nutrition
Science is beginning to substantiate what local food aficionados have
long felt: plant-ripened produce has more nutrients than produce that
is picked before it's ripe and transported. Fresh fruits and vegetables
are already jam-packed with nutrition, but why not get an extra kick by
eating seasonally and locally?
The rationale for eating seasonal and locally grown produce is
varied, but whichever way you look at it, fresh produce can't be beat.
www.articlerich.com
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