Five Benefits of Eating Seasonally

CultivatR is proud to bring you the best seasonal produce by Alberta farmers who care about the food they grow. Though we can find all sorts of items year-round in our grocery stores, it is much better for our bodies and our planet to eat what is in season. Here are just five of the reasons that eating seasonally is the way to go. 

1) It’s Healthier

Many of the foods that are found on the grocery store shelves are grown out of season or picked early to lengthen shelf-life. In order to do this, produce is often exposed to ripening agents which include chemical gasses and heat processes. To allow produce to travel the long distances, edible protective coatings are often also added. The longer produce sits on a truck, the more nutrients are lost as it starts to decay.

Most large scale farming operations are dependent on the use of fertilizers, herbicides, and pesticides to maximize yields to supply a global food chain. Our localized smaller scale farms tend to focus on quality over quantity. By staying small and using more traditional farming practices and greenhouses, there isn’t a reliance on herbicides and pesticides. 

2) It Tastes Better

In-season produce simply tastes better! Under natural conditions, fruits and vegetables have time to live up to their full potential. The goal of mass-produced produce is to generate a lot of product that looks good, not to focus on flavour or environmental impact. The strains of produce selected are grown to meet these two requirements, often at the expense of taste.

If you’ve been lucky enough to have berries straight from the bush, or an apple picked right from the tree, or bitten into a juicy tomato from your neighbour's garden, you know how incredible local, in-season produce actually tastes! 

3) It Adds Variety

It’s so easy to get stuck in a rut with your food choices. When you start thinking seasonally it can provide the opportunity for creativity and the chance to try new foods. With your eating changing throughout the year, you’re likely to eat a wider selection of food, taking advantage of greater nutritional variety.

4) It’s Better for the Environment

Large scale agriculture has a huge carbon footprint. Much of this is because of the long distances some foods are travelling to be available to consumers year-round across the globe. It doesn’t have to be that way. When we eat locally available season produce, it is not travelling nearly as far, and not requiring energy-intensive refrigeration for long periods of time.

Much of this is because of the long distances some foods are travelling to be available to consumers year-round across the globe, but it doesn’t have to be that way.

CultivatR specifically partners with farms that use sustainable practices and have a deep understanding of the best ways to grow, harvest, raise, and produce your food.

5) It Supports the Community

Buying locally grown produce has huge benefits for the community. You know your money is going to those actually growing and caring for their products. This money is reinvested into that community instead of a large corporation that is not local. It allows for more favourable treatment of the land, better treatment of the people who grow, harvest, and deliver the produce to market, and encourages conversations about how our buying choices impact the bigger picture.

With many people increasingly concerned about the impact their food choices have on the environment and their communities, there has never been more discussions and more options when it comes to supporting small-scale and community farming. CultivatR is here to both help educate our customers and provide food that fits your values, taste, and budget.