Eat the seasons: the joys of seasonal eating.

The joy of eating seasonally is that your diet varies with the natural cycle of the seasons. Spring’s fresh asparagus, dripping with melted butter, summer’s sweet tang of strawberries and who doesn’t love the mellow fruits of autumn and winter’s slow-cooked stews? Read on to find out why seasonal eating not only tastes more delicious but also boosts your health.

“A thriving household depends on the use of seasonal produce and the application of common sense” wrote the French agriculturalist Oliver de Serres in the 1600s. And while the world has changed a great deal since then, we couldn’t agree more with the sentiment.

For us, the most persuasive reason to eat food that is in season and grown close-to-home is that it most often tastes better. A 2006 paper in the journal Science* found that what makes a tomato nutritious, very simply, also makes it delicious. Flavor compounds, the scientists wrote, “provide important information about the nutritional makeup of foods.”

Which is why a tomato picked straight from the vine is a flavour bomb. It’s freshness means it’s still packed with nutrients - like antioxidants and vitamins - and you can literally taste them.

But like all things going green, you don’t need to be absolutist about it. One of the joys of modern life is that we have the choice of eating green beans in December and bananas in February. The art of green living is to eat seasonally and as close to home as possible and throw in treats along the way.

Sun-ripened tomatoes just picked from the vine are a flavour bomb

It is also not the case that a tomato grown in the UK is better for you or the planet. In the winter months it takes a huge amount of energy to grow tomatoes in the UK, while Spain can harvest the natural energy of the sun. So when stocks are low in the UK over the winter months, look to Europe for your favourite fruit and vegetables.

Fish has seasons too

We often only think of fruit and vegetables as seasonal but fish and game are best eaten at certain times of year.⁠ In the UK, we have fallen into the habit of eating just a handful of fish - cod, salmon, tuna and a few others - at all times of the year. For foodies, this is a travesty as there are dozens of delicious edible fish species in our coastal waters alone.⁠ It also means we harvest the same species all year round.

And fish have seasons too. If we eat fish when it's most plentiful around our coasts, it's often cheaper. And if we buy it when it's not spawning, it protects our fish stocks as well as ensuring there are more little fish to grow into bigger fish for us to eat later!⁠

Seasonal fish is, however, tricky to navigate as it varies around the UK and from one year to the next so always ask your local fishmonger what's best in season. ⁠
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Or check out Pesky Fish, the UK's first regenerative fish market, for high-quality fresh fish straight from fishermen who are working to rehabilitate fish stocks around our coast.⁠ And you can also visit The Good Fish Guide from the Marine Conservation Society to check their latest best to eat fish list.

Eating fish in season helps our fish stocks replenish

Seasonal game and meat

It’s well-known that game is seasonal but who knew that beef tastes better in the autumn? Autumn grass in the UK is richer with seeds, marbling the meat with streaks of fat that make it tastier and juicier when roasted. And, of course, roast lamb is a spring treat.

Butchers now sell meat like beef, pork and venison, and even lamb, all year round. But for foodies, it’s worth looking out for the best seasons for the most intense flavour. Pasture-fed meat also trumps grain-fed meat in the flavour stakes, as well as restoring soil health and biodiversity along the way.

Indeed, regenerative and organic farmers are now finding that pasture is a first-class carbon sink as grazing stimulates plant re-growth, and animal dung is a natural fertiliser. We love Pipers Farm* (quote GREENSALON10 for 10% off your first order) for their slow approach to live-stock rearing and their award-winning 100% grass-fed meat.

Pipers Farm* 100% pasture-fed beef is an Epicurean delight

If you’re looking for regenerative and organic online farm shops, Green Salon partners with the best farmers and food companies we can find. We make sure their food is delicious and that they are working hard to regenerate our soil, pay a fair wage to their farmers and are kind to their animals.

You can find them on our Food & Drink Directory.

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**2006 study in Science: Plant Volatile Compounds: Sensory Cues for Health and Nutritional Value? by Stephen Goff and Harry Klee