Seasonal foods - fruit, vegetables, meat and fish - grow naturally at certain times, or seasons, of the year, mainly in the UK.
What are seasonal foods?
Seasonal foods - fruit, vegetables, meat and fish - grow naturally at certain times, or seasons, of the year, mainly in the UK.
Lots of foods are typically grown and cultivated in the UK, from rhubarb to raspberries, petit pois to marrow, and lamb to beef!
Some fruits, such as oranges, peaches and kiwi, don't grow in this country so they're sourced from countries in southern Europe.
Similarly, there are fruits which grow outside Europe, such as bananas, pomegranates and passion fruit, which can be enjoyed when fruits in the UK and Europe are not in season.
Why eat seasonally?
Eating seasonally has many benefits to the environment, the local economy and yourself.
Food in season generally costs less to produce and when food is in abundance, it means your shopping basket is cheaper. For example, buying runner beans in the summer and early autumn months when they are grown in the UK costs less than buying them during winter when they have to be flown in from far-off warmer climes.
Of course, seasonality also applies to overseas countries and their productive months give us the opportunity to buy high quality produce all year round.
Eating foods from overseas gives us a taste and flavours from far afield but also increases the ‘food miles'.
‘Food miles' are the distance that food has travelled to get from the field, to the shop and then to your plate. The more food miles an item has clocked up, the more carbon (CO2) emissions have been produced in transporting it. This has an impact on our carbon footprint by increasing CO2 emissions.
However, food miles are only one part of this debate. Many overseas sources actually have lower carbon emissions associated with their farming system. In addition, lots of the countries which provide fruit and other horticultural products are developing nations and their trade in food products helps with economic development.