Turn, Turn, Turn Eating in harmony with the seasons by Michael Braunstein

	SOLUTIONS NOT PROBLEMS It's not always easy to find local, in-season crops because of the dearth of actual farmers who know how to grow diverse crops. Most acreage in Nebraska and Iowa is devoted to those basic commodity crops, Type 2 field corn and soybeans. That’s not what you eat off the cob and when was the last time you sat down to a tasty plate of steamed soybeans? So part of the problem really is that there is little access to varieties of crops locally, outside the limited season of farmers markets. That is changing, though. Consumer demand for highly nutritious, locally supplied food is driving a resurgence in sustainable, diversified agriculture. Networks like the Nebraska Food Cooperative, (nebraskafood.org), are emerging to keep seasonal foods coming to the local consumer.
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There is a season
Mentioned but certainly minimized was the notion of eating within season. This means choosing foods that are currently coming ripe locally at the appropriate time of year. It’s something we have gotten away from as technology has presented the means to counteract nature and deliver crops and foods from around the globe and around the continent that would ordinarily be out of season.
Eating in season is one of the most natural choices we can make. Our bodies are part of nature and change along with the seasons just like plants and other animals do. Even our nutritional requirements are keyed to seasonal changes. Our bodies do best when we feed them foods that are in keeping with seasons.
It doesn’t take a multi-million dollar study by a major university, (probably financed by some corporate food giant,) to convince me that eating in season is the sensible thing to do. Common sense tells me that the human body has evolved to do just that. After all, we have spent eons eating that way. Only with the development of rapid means of transportation over the past hundred years or so and the subsequent development of the economic pressures placed by multi-national food conglomerates have we given up the pattern of eating that evolution had led us to.
The bad news is that current generations don’t even understand what is in season or isn’t. The good news is that we aren’t totally devoid of common sense and our powers of observation.

Turn, turn, turn
As we move into autumn, the traditions of the season can educate us as to what foods might be considered optimal. October, November and December are big on harvest-style celebrations. Fall crops of pumpkins and squashes, late season corn and the beginnings of root crops are coming into their own. Consider the traditional Thanksgiving menu. Meats, potatoes and minces, autumn apples and ciders, green beans, walnuts and cranberries — all grace the table because of tradition but more importantly because tradition often reflects nature.

Pumpkins and other orange-colored crops are high in beta-carotene, an important immune system fortifier. It makes sense that it would be something to eat entering the chilly part of the year.
Moving into winter, heavier foods and cellared root crops make it to the table. After all, for those of us living in the Midwest, there isn’t much growing locally as we go into the deep winter of January and February. This would be the time of year when we rely on cured meats, stored nuts, root vegetables and grains. Parsnips and turnips develop their best flavor after the first frost of the season.
Think of a typical New Year’s Day feast with its origin in pre-Boeing 747 days. Ham, sweet potatoes, walnut stuffing, some cellar-stored apples or canned peaches, breads and puddings make up that menu. All are are dense and energy-packed foods. The oils of nuts, the proteins of meats and cheeses and the concentrated nutrients of root plants are crucial to health in deep winter. Vegetables that can last in a root cellar, like onions and garlic, beans, squash, yams and potatoes all provide us with exactly the nutrients our bodies crave at that time.

Come spring, the lighter, leafier lettuces and early radishes pique our appetites and prepare us for the approaching summer. Now is when that early asparagus is welcome at the table.
Summer has the full bounty of growing crops ranging from sweet corn to watermelon. Each comes ripe at its perfect time to match the clime and the season. There is no reason humans can’t be smart enough to recognize that.
An eloquent source on the topic of eating seasonally can be found at rivercottage.net. For now, just leave that Argentine asparagus on the shelf, okay?

Be well.