Fresh, Local Flavor is What's Cooking
Meals Featuring Local, Seasonal Ingredients are the Cornerstones of Sustainable Cooking
"Regional" and "seasonal" are culinary buzzwords these days, popular with upscale restaurateurs and celebrity chefs. Which is a good thing, as trends go, since restaurants that serve fresh, local fare offer many benefits, including flavor, nutrition, a fair shake for small producers and earth- friendly dining-out.
But maybe the greatest promise of the seasonal cooking craze is its tendency to spread to home kitchens, where cooks who jump on the bandwagon can have a widespread, everyday impact on the quality of our food — and lives.
Fresh, regional foodstuffs raised for flavor and picked at the peak of ripeness are more deliciously satisfying than out-of-season, out-of-region crops harvested for their "ship-ability." Organic fruits and vegetables, available from many small-scale farmers, are healthier for your family than pesticide- and additive-laden products.
Local and seasonal foods are easier on the environment because they require less processing, less fuel, less throw-away packaging. Buying them supports small growers, area producers and the local economy. It helps preserve unique regional foodstuffs and specialties like dried cherries and bratwurst.
Where can you find "local food?" Start at the farmers' market, where flavor, freshness and festivity are at their delicious best. Join a local cooperative or frequent a whole foods store, where much of the searching for regional fare has been done for you. Even through much of the winter they stock plenty of local produce — squash, potatoes, apples, onions, cabbages and root vegetables. Urge your local grocer or chain store manager to carry organic foods and local brands.
Patronize area bakeries, butcher shops, cheese factories and other small-scale markets. Purchase a supply of naturally raised beef, pork or chicken directly from an area farmer. Plant a garden. Subscribe to a CSA (community supported agriculture) farm. And by all means, resolve to freeze, dry or otherwise store some of the harvest to extend your seasonal supplies into the cold months.
No matter where we live, for many of us, obtaining foodstuffs is not the problem. The problem is time. We can barely manage to open a packaged granola bar, much less prepare a fresh-cooked dinner for six. The question is, "Who's got time to cook sustainably?"
My answer? "Everybody, every day." That's because, as all good cooks know, the best seasonal and regional dishes are often the simplest. There's nothing complicated — and everything delicious — about diced sweet peppers and vine-ripened tomatoes tossed in a spunky salsa, or grilled eggplant slices layered with provolone cheese. How about fresh basil (or parsley or arugula) pureed with garlic and nuts, tossed with quick-cooked pasta, or an easy, blended, picker-upper of raspberries, frozen yogurt and low-fat chocolate milk?
Cooking "seasonally and regionally" can be a challenge at first, but the more you do it, the more pleasurable and beneficial it gets — for you and everyone else.