Local, Clean, Simple, In-Season, and Veggie Forward

​I’m a firm believer in eating local, organic/transitional, and in-season produce and meats from local farmers and markets whenever possible. The reasons are simple: fresh, local, clean, in-season food supports local farmers, supports your local economy and ecosystem, is the healthiest food you can eat, simple to prepare, and tastes amazing.

While there is a lot of jargon out there around food labeling and what is or isn’t healthy, talking to your local providers, doing some research, and buying what’s in season goes a long way toward making the best choices for your health and the health of our environment.

From an environmental perspective, eating locally sourced organic or transitional produce supports farms and farmers, which in turn supports ecological health. Because organic farming requires farmers to avoid pesticides, herbicides, and genetically modified crops, special attention must be given to caring for the soil. Smaller-scale organic farms, for example, tend to sequester far more carbon within the soil than traditional farming methods, which can aid in reducing CO2 in our atmosphere. Also, cutting out the use of chemical pesticides and fertilizers is both good for our bodies and our environment. Lastly, buying local foods cuts down on the impact of shipping food over long distances. Even if a farm is not certified organic, you can and should talk to your farmer about their methods and processes. Smaller farms may not have gone through the certification process, but are still farming responsibly.

For New Yorkers, you can’t go wrong by checking out your local farmers market and getting to know the vendors; they are a great resource for learning what is the freshest, most in-season produce. GrowNYC, which manages farmer’s markets across the city, including the Union Square Farmers Market has a ton of resources online, including this great graphic highlighting what is in season and when: https://www.grownyc.org/greenmarket/whatsavailable

If you include fish and meats in your diet, aim to purchase free range, grass fed meats, heritage breed meats when possible, without antibiotics, and establish a relationship with your farmer. Learn about how the animal was raised, what it ate, and how it was slaughtered. An honest, professional farmer will be happy to guide you.

For fish, selection can be tricky. Talk to your vendor, get to know what is local and in-season, how the fish are caught, and for farmed fish, how they are raised and what they eat. Again, a good vendor will be honest. You don’t really want to be eating an endangered fish caught by longliners half a world away that has been frozen and shipped thousands of miles to your local retailer. Stick with what you can get in your backyard. A great resource for choosing what fish to purchase and eat can be found at www.seafoodwatch.org and for New Yorkers, you can reference the seafood guide here: https://www.seafoodwatch.org/-/m/sfw/pdf/guides/mba-seafoodwatch-northeast-guide.pdf?la=en

For me the beauty of eating in season is that with very simple preparation you can make delicious meals.

Consider a simple meal of wild local flounder baked with lemon, herbs and butter, baked local organic asparagus, organic jasmine rice, and braised local organic rainbow chard. From start to finish the meal will take about 35 minutes to prepare. It is delicious, nutritious, and anyone can do it.

Finally, a note on cost. Buying local, in-season and organic foods can be more expensive than buying the traditional stuff at your local supermarket. Meats and fish can be much more expensive than their traditional alternative. This doesn’t mean eating healthy, local, and in-season is out of reach. Prioritize fresh veggies, get to know your local health food coop and buy basics like organic rice and grains in bulk. Use meats and fish within a dish, not as the focal point of a meal, and learn how to cook with and utilize less expensive cuts. Your wallet and your body will thank you.