Eating Seasonally and Shopping Locally: A How-To Guide
Written by Amanda Bradshaw, Sustainability Committee member
Rotating your diet throughout the year to incorporate seasonal fruits and vegetables brings a diversity in both taste and nutrition. Eating seasonally— i.e., enjoying fruits and vegetables harvested at their natural peak— offers more than just variety in your meals. This practice provides health benefits, support to local farmers, and a reduced environmental impact. Falsely conceived as unrealistic or daunting, embracing seasonal eating can instead be a budget friendly endeavour that supports local economies as well as planetary and individual health.
What are the benefits of eating seasonally and locally?
Quality, Taste, and Positive Health Outcomes:
Seasonal produce is fresher, more flavourful, and richer in nutrients. Eating seasonally allows you to nourish your body with foods at their nutritional peak.
Peak Flavour → The enhanced taste of the fruit can be accredited to seasonal crops being picked right at peak ripeness in contrast to being harvested early for shipping.
Nutritional Benefits → The extended transportation and storage times necessary for stored produce results in nutrient loss*. Produce that ripens naturally and is consumed shortly after being harvested contains higher levels of vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants, which protect against various diseases such as cancer (Jackson, 2022).
✦ Interesting nutrition facts:
✴ Leafy greens can lose nearly 50% of their vitamin C after transport and storage (Managa et. al, 2018).
✴ Fall-harvested broccoli has nearly twice the vitamin C content compared to spring-harvested broccoli (Wunderlich et. al, 2008).
*Frozen and canned produce generally do not lose nutrients since those fruits and vegetables are typically harvested and packaged at their peak.
Environmental Sustainability:
Choosing seasonal and locally grown foods helps lower your carbon footprint by minimizing the energy needed to transport and store produce thereby reducing emissions and helping Earth in the process.
Less Energy Use → Stored produce requires higher energy levels as produce is held in cold units to decelerate spoiling.
Reduced GHGs → Local produce boasts lowered greenhouse gas emissions compared to the emissions produced by the extended trucking and cold storage of stored food.
✦ Transportation costs for out-of-season fruits and vegetables are reflected in the product’s price as grocery stores pay for delivery by truck, boat, or plane.
✦ The oil and gas that powers big cargo vehicles create carbon dioxide and contributes to the greenhouse gases largely responsible for climate change.
Economic & Social Sustainability:
To get the freshest seasonal produce, buying from local farmers markets and community supported agriculture groups will provide great tasting food as well as assistance to your local economy.
Supporting Local Economies → The money spent on products from local farmers and growers is kept within the community and is thus reinvested with other local businesses. Locally grown, processed, and distributed foods generate jobs and therefore stimulate local economies.
✦ Buying locally keeps small farms in business and promotes food diversification (as opposed to a reliance on produce grown through factory and monocultural farming).
Financial Feasibility → Buying locally grown seasonal food can be cheaper since local farmers will harvest similar crops, and the abundance of produce enables grocery stores that support local farmers to put items on sale.
✦ Locally grown food creates savings in transportation and storage costs which is thus reflected in the sale price and customers get to enjoy budget-friendly prices with a smaller carbon footprint.
Which produce items are in season for December?
The province of British Columbia offers a range of seasonal produce in the beginning of our winter season. Below are all the vegetables, fruits, and herbs in season for the month of December!
Fruits:
✴ Apples
✴ Kiwi
✴ Pears
Herbs*:
✴ Bay leaf
✴ Chervil
✴ Cilantro
✴ Rosemary
✴ Sage
✴ Thyme
✴ Watercress
*Dried herbs are available year round.
Vegetables:
✴ Beets
✴ Bok choy
✴ Broccoli
✴ Brussel sprouts
✴ Green & red cabbage
✴ Carrots
✴ Chicories
✴ Ginseng
✴ Kale
✴ Leeks
✴ Red & yellow onions
✴ Parsnips
✴ Red & white potatoes
✴ Rutabagas
✴ Winter squash
✴ Sunflower shoots
✴ Turnips
✴ Button mushrooms
✴ Black truffles
How can I find local farmers markets?
Metro Vancouver hosts a variety of local farmers markets dispersed throughout the region. While most markets operate through the peak seasons of May-October, a handful of markets continue running throughout the year.
For an expansive list to access the options nearest to you, check out the Vancouver Farmers Markets page for more information!
Sources:
buyBC (n.d.). Guide to B.C.’s local, seasonal foods. Government of British Columbia. https://buybc.gov.bc.ca/app/uploads/sites/386/2020/10/Seasonal-Chart.pdf
Grace Communications. (2024). Seasonal Food Guide. https://www.seasonalfoodguide.org/why-eat-seasonally.
Haas, S. (2022, August 8). How to eat seasonally: A complete guide. Healthline. https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/seasonal-food#growing-food.
Jackson, E. (2021, December 2). Healthy eating on a budget. University of Maryland Medical System. https://health.umms.org/2021/10/30/healthy-eating-on-a-budget/.
Jackson, E. (2022, April 5). The benefits of seasonal eating. University of Maryland Medical System. https://health.umms.org/2022/04/05/seasonal-eating.
Managa, M. G., Tinyani, P. P., Senyolo, G. M., Soundy, P., Sultanbawa, Y., & Sivakumar, D. (2018). Impact of transportation, storage, and retail shelf conditions on lettuce quality and phytonutrients losses in the supply chain. Food Science & Nutrition, 6(6), 1527–1536. https://doi.org/10.1002/fsn3.685.
Vancouver Farmers Markets (from Whistler to the Fraser Valley). Vancouvers Best Places. (2024, November 29). https://vancouversbestplaces.com/vancouver-farmers-markets/.
Wunderlich, S. M., Feldman, C., Kane, S., & Hazhin, T. (2008). Nutritional quality of organic, conventional, and seasonally grown broccoli using vitamin C as a marker. International Journal of Food Sciences and Nutrition, 59(1), 34–45. https://doi.org/10.1080/09637480701453637.