Thursday, May 7, 2009

Eating Locally and Seasonally

When I was growing up, my mom always used seasonal produce in her cooking. She had a huge garden, and during the warmer months we ate mostly what was growing in the garden. My mom also used various canning techniques to preserve beets, carrots, green beans, apples, plums, etc. for the winter months.

I can honestly say that I didn't fully appreciate the amazing, fresh, flavorful, organic produce we were eating when I was young... In fact, I remember getting annoyed that we were having green beans again... We also had several apple trees, and we ate apples (in all ways imaginable) A LOT. Let's just say I didn't eat apples for quite some time after moving out...

Once I started cooking for myself, I wasn't right away eating locally and seasonally. I was just too excited to have escaped the apples and the green beans... :o) However, my mom had instilled an awareness for local, seasonal, organic produce in me, and this little voice kept reminding me to seek good, fresh, organic, local food that was in season. I started buying produce at small produce shops (some of which are unfortunately not in business anymore) and bought a lot of my produce at Farmers' Markets.

Recently, I came across a website that lists produce that is in season in the different regions in the U.S. I think this could be very useful in planning meals in the future.... :o)

Do you eat local produce that is in season? Is it challenging to eat local, seasonal produce? Do you have any tips? What was the last local, seasonal produce that you ate?

Be well,
Andrea