Buy Local and Seasonal Food

Buy Local and Seasonal Food

Eating local and seasonal food supports local producers and the production of crops that are appropriate to our environment. It alleviates the reliance on long-distance transport and refrigeration of foods that are grown thousands of kilometres away. Foods grown in sync with the seasons are more in tune with our intuitive nutritional needs; after all, who wants a cucumber sandwich in the middle of winter?

How to do it now!

Buy & eat local and seasonal food!

Farmers markets are a great place to buy locally produced food and a directory is available from the Australian Farmers' Markets Association.

The Avian Park Trash & Treasure and Farmers Market is held every Sunday at the Avian Park Raceway, Newman St Wangaratta.

The Moyhu Farmers Market is held every third Saturday of the month except for Easter and Queen’s Birthday weekend.

For more information on the Avian Park and Moyhu Farmers Markets, visit the monthly events calendar at the Visit Wangaratta website.

Foods in season throughout the year.

Summer
Autumn
Winter
Spring
Apricots Avocado (Fuerte) Beetroots Asparagus
Beans Cabbage (& Brussels Sprouts) Broccoli Avocado (Hass)
Berries & Currants Cauliflower Cabbage (& Brussels Sprouts) Beetroots
Celery Celery Cauliflowers Berries & Currants
Cherries Chestnuts Celery Broccoli
Corn Cumquats Cumquats Cabbage (& Brussels Sprouts)
Cucumber Figs Fennel Corn
Eggplants Ginger Ginger Cucumbers
Figs Leeks Jerusalem Artichokes Fennel
Green pea Melons Lemons & Limes Green, Snap & Snow Peas
Leeks Olives Olives Leeks
Melon Parsnips Parsnips Lemon & Lime
Pears Pears Rhubarb Peppers & Chillies
Peppers (& Chillies) Quinces Sweet Potatoes Rhubarb 
Tomatoes Sweet Potatoes Turnips & Swedes Zucchini & Squash
Zucchini & Squash Tomatoes    

(Southern Australian emphasis)

Grow your own food. The best way to eat local and seasonal food is to use your own backyard! You can have a veggie garden all year round with seasonal vegetables. (See our Grow your own food action).

Why is this action important?

Changing our eating habits is a simple way to reduce our impact on the environment, address climate change (via reduced transport and industrial energy) and support local communities and farmers. You'll benefit from an interesting and diverse diet year round and support organisations like the Australian Farmers' Markets Association and local producers which advocate low-impact farming and produce diversity.

Environment

Local and seasonal produce creates less energy and water being embedded in our foods (through growing, transport and refrigeration), with a corresponding lightening of the contribution to climate change. Seasonal crops are more likely to work with, rather than against, local biological and environmental systems and species, minimising the requirement for pesticides, glasshouses, etc.

Wellbeing

The good sense of eating seasonally aligned (local) food is a well-developed tenet of preventative medical traditions (such as traditional Chinese medicine). Even without applying hard science, intuition and tradition tell us to eat root vegies in winter, sprouting veggies in spring and cooling vegies in summer.


Last Updated: 22/08/2011

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