Eat Seasonally to Change the World for the Better

Eating seasonally is the first step you can take to change the world for the better. Eating seasonally simply means eating what's naturally growing in your local area's current season.

Essentially, eating seasonally means eating greens in early spring, tomatoes in warmer weather, watermelons at the height of summer and root crops and squash in the fall and early winter.

here's why you're not doing this

The grocery store. The grocery store shelves look pretty much the same every day, 365 days of the year. Our current system in North America makes it so that every store is filled with pretty much every kind of food we want to eat every day of the year. The grocery shelves have been fooling us. 

LEARN YOUR SEASONS

To start eating seasonally, we have to first learn what the actual seasons are in our area, and then we need to figure out what things grow in each of those seasons. 

For the coldest season, eating seasonally would mean eating lots of root vegetables and hardy greens that might be growing in a greenhouse like broccoli, cauliflower, kale, and spinach.

In the cool season, you can eat greens, root crops, peas, and eventually strawberries.

In the warmer season, you'll eat tomatoes, peppers, squash, zucchini, and beans.

And in the hottest time of the year, you can be eating melons, basil, eggplant, okra, and peaches. 

one

You'll eat more quantity of a single food but less variety in any given season. When strawberry season rolls around, you’re going to eat those strawberries in every way imaginable. You end up filling up on the very best things available in that season, and by the time they're no longer in season, you're kind of done with them because you’ve had your fill.

two

You give your body more of what it needs when it needs it. It's like nature knows us or something. Watermelons grow in summer when we need water, citrus grows in the colder seasons when we need more Vitamin C. When you eat the foods in season, you'll literally see a difference in your overall health.

three

You'll spend less money. When supply is less than demand, the price goes down and vice versa. So, when you're trying to buy things that aren't in season, there's much less supply than demand, so you pay more. 

Shop Locally to Change the World for the Better

here's why you're not doing this

Grocery stores and our current food system makes this extremely difficult. Most of the grocery stores that are near you are likely bringing food in from really large farms. We've created a food system that prioritizes farmers that grow in bulk and sell in bulk, so grocery stores in general like to do deals with farmers that are growing loads and loads of certain varieties of foods, and they buy larger quantities from them at a cheaper price. When this happens, most likely the growers are not nearby. 

how to shop locally

ONE: SHOP AT THE FARMER'S MARKET

The first (and best) way to shop locally is to shop at local farmer's markets. When you shop at a farmer's market, almost all of your money is going to go straight into the hands of your local growers. Depending on where you live, there will be different options for you. Once you find a farmers market near you, you’ll want to prioritize getting there as much as you can. 

TWO: SIGN UP FOR A CSA

I do know that with a busy schedule it can be hard to set aside time each week to make a trip to your farmer's market. This is where CSAs come in. CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture. It’s sort of like Hello Fresh or some of those other food subscription services, but it’s even better! Services like Hello Fresh are great because they do help people to eat healthier. The problem is that they’re likely shipping the produce from all over the world. A CSA is better because you will be getting produce that was grown near you. 

Head to this link to learn more about CSAs and to find one in your area.

THREE: CHECK THE GROCERY TAGS

So we are doing our best at getting to the farmer's markets and we’ve signed up for a CSA. But we all know there will be times when you need to hit the grocery store. What then? 

First, check the tags. Pick the produce with tags that mark locations as close to you as possible.

No tags? Talk to the employees at the store. Ask them where that food came from. Ask if they stock any produce from nearby farms. Every time you ask the question, you are letting your local grocery stores know that you value local produce. When they start to hear this over and over again, they'll be more likely to prioritize it. 

one: Your Food Is Going to Taste Good

When your food has a shorter shelf life and fewer travel days, and hits your plate as soon as possible, the good food you should be eating is actually going to taste good too.

two: You'll Spend Less

By shopping locally, you're spending less money on things of less value like packaging and trucking, and ALL of your funds will be going to the farmer and grower who've worked hard to make your food great.

three: You're Helping Your Economy

Every time you spend money locally, you ensure that your food money is helping your local community and the heroes that work so hard inside your town and city. You're investing in your own property, your schools, all the aspects of your local area.

Grow Naturally to Change the World for the Better

here's why you're not doing this:

one

You believe in the idea of a green thumb--that people are either born with a natural ability to garden or they're just not. You've heard of this, right? But the green thumb idea is a myth. Human history tells us this: we've been gardening to keep ourselves alive for thousands of years--it's human nature for us to grow naturally. Green thumbs aren't magic, they're developed with practice and training. Gardening is for everyone, you included.

two

There's little access to methodical instruction and education on how we can all do this at home. Most of us can make it through years of grade school, college, and even graduate school and never learn a single thing about how to grow a little of our own food naturally at home.

three

You're part of a system where the focus in the gardening industry is on products, not people. When you head to the store, there's racks and racks of things you can buy in regards to gardening but very few people there ready to help you understand how to use those things or what those products even do. Worse still, these products are mostly made of synthetic materials and promise miraculous results that are literally supernatural--no pests, no disease, but... explosive growth!

STEP ONE: TAKE THE GREEN THUMB QUIZ

You heard me say that I believe that the green thumb is a myth, but I also believe that we can all develop our green thumb. I've developed this quiz to help you figure out where you currently are in your growing, and how I'm going to teach you to bring your green thumb to the next level. 

Click here to take the green thumb quiz!

STEP TWO: START WITH LEAVES

If you've never grown before or if you just want to see some success, I encourage you to start with the leaves. Herbs and greens are simply the easiest things that you can grow naturally. They're the first to come up from the soil, and they're the ones that you can cut from the most often. So anytime I meet a client or a friend who's ready to start trying their hand at gardening, I always recommend they start with the herbs and greens. You should do the same.

STEP THREE: START SMALL

Next, I want to encourage you to start small. You don't have to go big or go home with gardening. In fact, I often encourage people to start with just one simple pot. The simplest thing to start with is just a pot of chives. It's pretty hard to kill chives, and chives are a fun thing to add to almost any dish. 

First, you’re going to feel soooo good. Every time you see the leaves sprout, the fruit form, or you eat a little something you've tended to yourself, you're going to feel seriously accomplished. 

And get ready: You won't be able to see food the same again. Once you start seeing food come out of the garden, you won't be able to unsee it, and you won't want to. It's so amazing to see a seed turn into food that you cut and literally feed your family with. This is the first step to waking up to the wonder of food.

Another thing that will happen when you start to grow naturally is you'll get to eat the healthiest and best tasting food possible. The nutrients in the vegetables and fruits that our bodies need are most available to our bodies the minute after they’re harvested. The foods that are shipped across the country or even across the globe are the least nutrient-rich food we can put in our bodies when it comes to raw fruits and vegetables. But when you just harvest and then stick that food directly into your mouth, you're giving your body the thing it craves. 

Finally, you'll be inspired to do more of the first two things: eat seasonally and shop locally. As you start to grow yourself, you'll know what's in season because you're seeing it in your garden. And you'll want to shop locally because those just-harvested carrots are seriously addictive--you're going to want more of that good stuff. 

THESE THREE THINGS CAN CHANGE EVERYTHING

So, are you starting to see how all three things could literally change you this year? Can you see how these three things could change your community and even change the planet? 

(Do I sound like I'm trying to save the world or something?)

Now don’t worry. I’m not going to leave you hanging here. Throughout this entire podcast and here inside the Gardenary community, I'm going to share with you the tools you need to make all of these three things happen in your life. 

Be sure to tune in every Wednesday for stories and conversations around the food we eat, and how that food can change our lives.