How Diving into Seasonal Eating Makes Everything Tastier & Supports Local Farmers

This is part of The Local Food Challenge, a program of the For Farmers Movement

Subscribe

Ever notice how the peach you buy in January never tastes as sweet as the one you savor at the farmers market in July? That’s the power of eating with the seasons.

When crops are grown and harvested in their natural cycle, they’re at their peak for flavor, freshness, and nutrition. But many of us have lost touch with this rhythm. Supermarkets have trained us to expect strawberries in December and tomatoes in February -- produce that’s been picked early, shipped long distances, and stripped of much of its vitality.

Why Seasonal Eating Matters

Eating seasonally isn’t just about taste—it’s about nourishment and connection.

• More nutrients: Studies show that fruits and vegetables eaten in season contain higher levels of vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants.

• Better flavor: A summer tomato or a fall apple tastes far richer when grown in its natural window.

• Stronger local support: When you buy seasonally from farmers in your area, you help keep dollars in your community and strengthen small farms.

A tomato isn’t just a tomato anymore. It’s one you waited for. One grown at its peak, not picked green and shipped a thousand miles.

The Cost of Disconnection

The cost of our disconnection from food is steep, and not just at the checkout line. When we stop eating with the seasons, we lose more than just flavor; we lose connection to place, to rhythm, and to the people who grow our food.

Out-of-season produce shipped thousands of miles contributes to carbon emissions, fragile supply chains, and the erosion of local economies. Meanwhile, farmers who grow within their regions’ natural cycles struggle to compete against global, year-round imports.

This disconnection dulls our awareness of what real freshness tastes like and distances us from the ecological and community systems that sustain us. Eating seasonally is one of the simplest ways to close that gap, to realign our plates with the natural world and the people who feed it.

When we lose sight of the seasons, we lose more than flavor. For example,

• Many of us can’t name which crops are in season in our own state.

• Year-round supermarket produce often lacks taste, nutrients, and texture.

• Dollars spent on imported produce could instead be fueling local economies.

• We miss out on varieties of fruits and vegetables that never reach big-box stores.

Eating out of season may fill your grocery cart, but it empties the chance for discovery, conversation, and true nourishment.

How to Start Eating with the Seasons

Eating seasonally doesn’t need to be complicated. Here’s how to begin:

• Visit a farmers market. Ask a farmer, “What’s in season right now?” They’ll gladly tell you, and maybe even share cooking tips.

• Choose one ingredient. Build your next meal around something that’s abundant this month—like squash in fall, leafy greens in spring, or berries in summer.

• Stay curious. If markets aren’t accessible, do a quick search online for your region’s seasonal crops.

  
  

Seasonal eating is about discovery. It’s about learning to wait, savor, and reconnect with the natural rhythm of food.

This Week’s Challenge

It's really simple.

Pick one seasonal ingredient from a local farmer and make it the star of your next meal. Notice how it tastes, how it makes you feel, and how it changes your connection to food.

Eating with the seasons may just transform the way you think about your plate.

Subscribe

----------

Dana DiPrima is leading a national movement to support small American Farmers because our health, communities, environment, and regional economies depend on it. The For Farmers Movement supports farmers by sharing their stories, replacing myths with facts, and providing them with grants and other helpful resources.

Dana is also the host of One Bite is Everything, the podcast that connects the food on your plate to the bigger world by sharing conversations with thought leaders, helpful tips, and monthly recaps of key issues on the food and policy scene. One Bite is Everything is a proud member of Heritage Radio Network, home to some of the most influential voices in food.

Dana authors a weekly letter in addition to this blog. You can subscribe here. You can join the For Farmers Movement to support your local farmers here. You can also follow Dana on Instagram.