We all love holiday ingredients, but have you ever wondered about what impact our holidays have on our farmers and food waste? Sadly, the increased demand for certain items right before a holiday often creates a ton of waste immediately afterward. An item that is red hot in grocery stores before a holiday will get the cold shoulder once the festive holiday displays go away, which is tragic for the farmer who still has fields full of delicious produce needing a buyer and a good home. Will you help us write a happy ending for these 3 types of produce that currently get left behind by the supermarket holiday hype?
- Pumpkins: Everyone wants to buy pumpkins in the early fall, but once Halloween is over, they fall out of favor. This is coupled with a sad misconception that pumpkins are better suited for decorating than for eating. We invite you to welcome pumpkins into your life this winter. They’re stellar in curries, soups, and of course baked goods!
- Squash: Squashes are in high demand between Halloween and Thanksgiving, but a lot of stores lose interest afterward, even though the Winter squash season lasts for months longer. Squashes are the ultimate Winter vegetable in our opinion. Not only are they healthy, rich, and filling, they are versatile and adaptable to your schedule because they store well at room temperature for weeks!
- Mandarin oranges: Supermarkets can’t buy enough mandarins for the week before Christmas, but our grower friends report that nobody wants to buy mandarins after the stockings come down, even though the trees are still full of them. Mandarins are the perfect dessert and healthy snack so we ask that you adopt some Mandarin oranges into your life this January. You don’t need Christmas carols playing to enjoy the taste of delicious citrus!
Please join us in re-defining seasonal eating. Let’s show our seasonal produce some lasting loyalty, and not just buy things when a fancy display tells us that they’re trendy. At the end of the day, eating seasonally means savoring and celebrating each type of produce until the season is over!
We put our favorite recipes into a FAMILY recipe book. The good-for-you dinners are more special when you associate them with a relative you miss or a time the kids were little. When you associate the healthy dinners with ties like those, the seasons aren’t the only reason to want the best foods. Good for the head, the heart and the body.
Hey Andria! What a lovely idea that is! Thanks so much for sharing!