Spring is here! It is a good reason to eat and cook seasonal food.

In the supermarkets today, we can get most fruits and vegetables all-year round whatever the season. Convenient, certainly, but what are we really getting when we choose to buy out-of-season fruit and vegetables? Buying produce that would normally be out of season in our country means that it has either been imported from another country or grown in heated greenhouses. Both processes create carbon emissions, which is bad news for the environment.

There are a number of good reasons to eat more local, seasonal food:

• to reduce the energy (and associated CO2emissions) needed to grow and transport the food we eat;
• to avoid buying expensive food that is scarcer or has travelled a long way;
• to support the local economy;
• to reconnect with nature’s cycles and the passing of time;
• seasonal food is fresher and so it tends to be tastier and more nutritious;

However, you can also ‘taste the seasons’ in many fruit from southern Europe; it’s better to eat oranges, peaches and kiwi fruit flown over from Spain or Italy rather than those that have travelled much further from Africa, America or Australia.

And what about fruit mostly grown outside Europe as bananas, pomegranates and passion fruit? Enjoy, in moderation! Especially when European fruit is relatively sparse.

IYNF has create for you a list of ‘spring veggies’ you can buy in supermarkets, with peace of mind – Although, don’t forget to support the local economy and purchase from local markets.

In a next article ‘Cook the seasons’, IYNF will share with you some delicious healthy spring recipes. Stay tuned!