There's a Reason to Buy in Season (#1: KNOW YOUR FOOD)

Welcome to the first installment in a 10-week series:

10 Easy Ways to Live Affordably Organic!  

Every Wednesday I’ll post a tip, then later in the week we'll delve a little deeper on how these tips work, providing real-world experience and successes. Good?  Let's get Affordably Organic.

First up: 

#1:  KNOW YOUR FOOD.

What does that mean??

It means you need to know:

- WHEN to buy

- WHERE to buy

- WHAT to buy organic  (…or NOT. Yup, some items are safe to conventionally, which mean non-organically.)

Let's start with WHEN to buy your food....

Buy seasonally. This means to buy your food when it's at the peak of it's natural season.

Strawberries in December?  Not in my state.  

Apples in May?  Nope.  

Tomatoes in January?  Not on your life. (shudder)

OUT of season fruits and vegetables are expensive.  Out of season food will cost two to three times more than if you buy it IN season.  (Curb that February cucumber craving!)  

My children used to beg me for blueberries in the dead of winter…. when they cost at least $6.00 for a teeny, little, measly pint.  (Youch.)  The berries came from somewhere far, far away where it was warm enough to grow blueberries (or grown in a hot house) and they pretty much tasted like mush.  

Expensive + not at all tasty = bad combo.  (Blech.)

So, I explained to my kiddos that blueberries are best only during certain months of the year. Somehow knowing that that blueberries aren't readily available make them an extra special treat. (Truly "forbidden fruit"!) Now they look forward to blueberry season and, more importantly, know when it is.  (A great lesson for kids:  Teach them your state's harvest calendar then take a tour through your grocery and let them tell you what's good to buy.)  In-season blueberries are easy to find, taste great and are affordable. Win, win, win. (Winning!  O.k., enough of the pop culture references…)

Use this handy interactive Peak Season map from Epicurious to find out what’s available during any given season in your area.  This easy-to-use tool also gives ingredient descriptions plus fun recipes.  

Next up in KNOW YOUR FOOD:  

WHERE should you buy your food?

Organically yours,

-Minde

Blueberry picking with the kiddos in July in Georgia...  

I can hardly wait 4 months to do it again!