There are no seasons in the American supermarket. Now there are tomatoes all year round, grown halfway around the world, picked when it was green, and ripened with ethylene gas. Although it looks like a tomato, it's kind of a notional tomato. I mean, it's the idea of a tomato.
- Michael Pollan, from Food, Inc.
Today it is hard to imagine that everyone once ate only fresh produce that was in season. There was a time when you couldn't get a fresh tomato in the middle of winter. Many of us don't even know when certain foods are in season, because they are always available to us at the supermarket. But there are many benefits to eating seasonal foods. You can buy them locally, supporting your local economy and reducing the energy needed to ship those foods. When foods are allowed to ripen naturally in the sun, they contain more vital nutrients than their artificially ripened imitators. And they just taste better! Below is a link to Sustainable Table's webpage about seasonal foods. At the bottom of the page, you can enter your state and the season, and a list of seasonal produce for your area will be brought up. It's a great tool to re-teach us how to eat in tune with the seasons.
It is so true that there is a big difference in the taste of fruits and vegetables that are grown locally and bought in season. Anyone who has eaten a tomato fresh from the garden knows this. A tomato bought at the supermarket in winter doesn't even compare.
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