Eating seasonally is a new concept to many of us, accustomed as we are to having on-demand, year-round imported foods. But there are many good reasons for eating this way.
One is that seasonal eating brings you in touch with what’s actually growing now in the fields in your area (–a cue to local gardeners about what’s ready to harvest!).
It lets you know what naturally-ripened and freshly-picked foods taste like. 
Many of the imports – for example tomatoes – are picked green and ripened with ethylene gas. The taste of a sun-ripened tomato is worlds apart.
Harvesting foods before they are ripe stops the development of the fruit sugars and phytonutrients, leaving the fruit or vegetables not only nutritionally lacking, but also tasteless, with poor texture. They won’t keep as well either.
Imported supermarket produce is warehoused, sometimes for weeks, under harsh refrigeration and in modified packaging, using gases to prolong shelf life. Because local food is freshly picked, it keeps better AND tastes better when you get it home.
Long storage also means poor nutritional quality: vitamin C in particular declines rapidly after the food has been picked.
Want to give seasonal eating a try? Great news! There are still spaces in our summer food box program, which starts soon: Wednesday June 29. Boxes can be picked up at the farm on Wednesdays (11am-6pm) or from one of the farmers’ homes on Faithful St in Fairfield (4:30-10pm).
The cost is $504 for 18 weeks of luscious, seasonal, certified organic produce (June 29 to October 26). You can pay by cheque(s) – mailed or brought to the farm (address here) – or buy online by credit card ($5 transaction fee is added).
