Eating Antioxidants with the Seasons

We've pretty much all been told to eat the rainbow, and eat the most brightly-colored foods available, but what if it seems the most beneficial foods for us are all fruits, or only available in summer, unless they're transported to us from other lands?

Each "summer" antioxidant food, such as strawberries, has a "winter" counterpart, such as broccoli. Strawberries and broccoli do essentially the same thing, and this news may be a relief to people who hate broccoli, or are allergic to strawberries.

The same thing applies to leafy greens: if your favorites are "winter" growers, there are "summer" antioxidant equivalents, and there are "summer" growers you might not be aware of.

With the advent of shipping and trade, our notion of seasonal eating has gotten grossly distorted, partly because now our food comes to us, instead of us foraging and growing for ourselves. What we grow as a nation has been grossly distorted trying to make the food more "shipper-friendly."

Here's how I eat with the seasons with what little I choose from:

WINTER
Kale
Carrots
Collards
Sprouts
Apples
Mushrooms (portobello)
Squash (yellow and pumpkin)
Onions (red)

*Note the lack of variety in available fruits and leafy greens. It's too cold for most to grow, like peas.

WINTER-SPRING
Kale
Carrots
Collards
Sprouts
Chard
Lettuces
Apples
Mushrooms (portabello)
Broccoli
Mustard Greens
Peas, snow and snap (Hubby likes them)
Strawberries
Squash
Onions (red)

SPRING-SUMMER
Kale
Collards
Sprouts
Carrots
Apples
Mushrooms (portobello)
Squash (yellow and zucchini)
Onions (red)
Broccoli
Chard
Lettuces
Strawberries
Peppers (red bell)
Berries (blue- and black-)
Plums

*Note that most of the leafy greens, apples, and mushrooms start to fall off the list--the weather is getting too warm for them. Peas fall off in summer because of the heat.

SUMMER-FALL
Kale
Carrots
Collards
Sprouts
Squash (yellow and zucchini)
Onions (red)
Berries (straw-, blue-, and black-)
peppers (red bell)
Plums

*This is when you'll see early fall crops of:

Apples
Mushrooms
Broccoli
Leafy greens
Peas (snow and snap)

...and we're back to winter again. Other than apples, it's now too cold and dark for colorful fruit to grow. That's okay, because leafy greens come back to take over the job. Added high-antioxidant spices used in cooking also help to carry the load year-round.

Peas and mustard greens are persnickety. They only like spring and fall (not too hot, not too cold).

This is why frugal living guru Amy Dacyczyn says to "toss the salad"--lettuces and tomato aren't ripe at the same time, leaving you to pay a premium for either summer greens, or winter tomatoes. This is why Cole slaw became popular--it's a cheap "winter salad."

Since many of our foods are grown in greenhouses, or overseas, we've lost track of what's supposed to be eaten when. For instance, you'll notice kale, carrots, sprouts, and collards are mentioned year-round--this is because they're available IN THIS COUNTRY year-round thanks to the hardiness of the plants, sheltered growing in greenhouses, and/or the milder winters of the South and West. In snow country, kale and collards actually GET SWEETER with a little frost and snow on them!

Most mushrooms are now grown in caves or abandoned mines underground, so they, too, know no season.

Such is the state of our food supply--eating with the grocery store seasons is easier than eating with your garden's seasons (or foraging seasons), unless you do some careful planning/planting or hunting.