EAT LOCAL AND SEASONAL

A well-nourished body, mind and the way we eat affects our health. If we eat badly then we can expect that we may have poor health too. In the same way, the way that we eat has a tremendous impact on our health. Eating healthy only happens when our food is rich in nutrients.

Nowadays we have become so accustomed to eating foods grown in faraway places / foreign foods/ expensive foods that we do not give it a second thought. Most produce we receive travels an average of few thousand miles before it gets into our markets. Just think about it, the oranges or the apple you eat probably come from California and New Zealand. The distance your food travels has serious effects on your health.

When foods are brought in from a distance it is impossible to identify the pesticides used and the route taken to grow and transport the food to local supermarkets. Other countries might not have the same controls and safety regulations that we do. Control over what you are putting on your plate and body is limited.

Locally grown produce tend to use fewer chemicals. Fruits and vegetables have a longer time to ripen naturally especially when in season. The food will be fresher, often having been picked within 24 hours at the most. This means the food will be more delicious and contain more nutritional value.

Eating locally grown foods is just plain safer. Food that has to travel a long distance to get from farm to plate has a far greater risk of food contamination and lack of nutrition. Fruits that have travelled long distances will have lost its vitamin content, bioflavonoids, microminerals and its taste too.

Eating foods grown locally gives you a greater variety. Local produce translates to eating foods when they are in season. This means you will be enjoying foods when they are the most abundant, at their nutritional peak, and the least expensive.

Eating local and seasonal foods will ensure retention of its nutritional value, taste, texture, flavor and special properties which will then help our digestive system. Better your nourishment better is your digestion and therefore better is the assimilation.

But this does not mean you cannot eat exotic foods but it means don’t spend on it at the cost of not eating what is grown locally and seasonally. By eating locally grown and seasonal produce we will ensure that our family is eating fresher, tastier fruits and vegetables while safeguarding the health.