Seasonal eating is a delightfully romantic thought in a prosaic world, but is seasonal food worth it? It turns out that seasonal food not only tastes better than non-seasonal food, it is better for you and the environment too. Before we look at the benefits, we should be clear what we are talking about.
Seasonal and local
There are two concepts out there when it comes to seasonal food: “Global seasonality” and “local seasonality”. Global seasonality refers to food that is produced according to the normal production season but which then may be consumed anywhere in the world. This might mean someone in Australia eating a navel orange in December from Florida. That orange would technically be “in season”, but the distance it has travelled would negate the environmental advantages and possibly the nutritional benefits of seasonal food as well. It would certainly undermine any community-building benefits.
Local seasonality is more likely what you think of when you think of seasonal food and refers to food consumed in the natural production season and within the same climatic zone. In this scenario, you eat navel oranges in Australia when they grow in Australia (from March to August). Even within Australia though, food produced in season may travel many miles to get to you, so for the environmental advantages of seasonal food to apply you really need to eat local and seasonal.
Built for seasonal eating
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