teaching a class about seasonality today
Food out of season is not a marvel.
It is a catastrophe.
- michael ruhlman via dominique crenn
The real issues — how do we grow and raise, distribute and sell, prepare and eat food? And how do our patterns of doing these things affect the rest of the world (and vice versa)? — are simply too big to ignore.
1.Seasonal food has more flavor and is more nutritious.
Most foods begin to lose nutrients almost immediately after harvest. Local means less time from when it was picked to when it is purchased and eaten. Spinach and green beans lose two-thirds of their vitamin C within a week of harvest, according to the University of California, Davis. Another study revealed that frozen peas retained more nutrients than fresh peas that weren’t eaten quickly after harvest. The USDA’s nutrient retention report (“Table of Nutrient Retention Factors”) actually declares frozen fruit to be more nutritious than fresh fruit in most cases, because the former is typically frozen just after harvest rather than being shipped far away, losing nutrients over several days.
Vegetables and fruit grown in season have had more exposure to the sun, and reach a nutritional peak (more vitamins, minerals and antioxidants) than foods harvested before they’re ripe, held and shipped long distances.
The redder a red tomato is, the more beta-carotene it contains. Same goes for peppers: As the pepper progresses from green to red, a bell pepper gains 11 times more beta-carotene and 1 ½ times more vitamin C.
2. Seasonal food provides more variety.
Flavors and nutritional components change with the seasons, providing a full complement of vitamins, minerals and other nutrients. One study found that women who ate a diet rich in fruits and vegetables from 18 different plant families (including cruciferous vegetables from the Brassicaceae family, such as cabbage, cauliflower and brussels sprouts) had significantly less damage to their genetic material than women who limited themselves to five plant families. This reflects the tens of thousands of years that our genes have evolved in concert with the environment as our ancestors gathered food from a wide variety of sources. This diverse array of nutrients from the plants we eat (phytonutrients) work together to support the human body and the way it works in an optimal way.
3. Seasonal food positively impacts multiple health issues.
Seasonal allergies are heavily influenced by diet. Researchers have found that kids who ate a Mediterranean diet — centered on produce, whole grains, lean protein and healthy fats like olive oil and nuts — were significantly less likely to have nasal allergies than kids who ate a standard American diet. The reason: A plant based diet that includes whole grains, lean protein and healthy fats like olive oil and nuts, cuts down on inflammation in the body, the most significant trigger in allergy symptoms.
Eating a seasonally based diet with lots of variety throughout the year is the “cornerstone of preventive medicine,” says Preston Maring, a doctor at Kaiser Permanente’s Oakland Medical Center in California. Inspired by study after study documenting the benefits of eating an in-season, plant-focused diet—reduced risks of cancer and heart disease, increased longevity, improved cholesterol, improved vascular health, increased bone density and weight loss, to name a few—Maring has actually written prescriptions for patients to buy fresh food from the hospital’s on-site farmers’ market, complete with suggestions about how they can prepare it.
4. Growing food in season (and buying locally) is supportive of a cleaner and greener environment.
It needs less “assistance” to grow when raised in season, fewer pesticides, chemical fertilizers, genetic modification or ripening agents Seasonal and local has a lower carbon footprint when it is not trucked, shipped or flown great distances.
http://www.clevelandclinicwellness.com/food/SeasonalEating/Pages/introduction.aspx
http://www.motherearthnews.com/real-food/nutrient-levels-in-food-declining-zb0z11zalt.aspx
https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/food/no-food-is-healthy-not-even-kale/2016/01/15/4a5c2d24-ba52-11e5-829c-26ffb874a18d_story.html
https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/food/how-to-eat-more-healthfully-in-6-easy-steps/2016/01/04/f67e928e-af32-11e5-b820-eea4d64be2a1_story.html?tid=a_inl
http://www.grownyc.org/greenmarket/whatsavailable
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