Choosing seasonal foods helps you save money and maintain a healthy diet

Climate is one of the primary factors for plant development, determining germination, growth, flowering, quality and productivity of each species. During the normal period of crop development, food is fresher, with better flavor and aroma, rich in nutrients and antioxidants, as it follows the rhythm of the seasons in harmony with nature. In addition to more adequate nutrition, choosing seasonal products contributes to the search for more affordable prices. Especially for those who prefer to consume organic products.

With this in mind, Isabelle Lecheta, a rural producer from Tijucas do Sul, is already working on the production of various seasonal foods on her property: arugula, radish, parsley, spinach, endive, radite, onion, garlic, cabbage, split peas, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, lettuce, chard, pak-choi cabbage, mint, lemon balm, pennyroyal, beetroot, carrot, artichoke, Brussels sprouts, chives and watercress. According to Isabelle, in addition to being good for your health, consuming seasonal vegetables is also a more sustainable form of consumption for the planet. “These products are easy to grow, consume fewer resources, and bring benefits to human health and the environment.” Isabele is an organic and syntropic producer – a production system that proposes to reorganize and restore the natural environment, the forest. With the proposal to create a system that combines, in the same area, the production of vegetables, fruits and wood, which also recovers degraded areas and protects the environment.

The agronomist at IDR-Paraná (Institute for Rural Development of Paraná – Iapar-Emater), Moacir Darolt, highlights that the high prices of food produced outside its natural season are due to imports from different regions, states or countries, or the cultivation in controlled environments, away from natural cycles. “From a production point of view, offering food out of season means modifying the natural cycle of plants. To achieve this, processes are used that artificialize the nutrients in the earth, greenhouses that control the lighting and temperature of the environment where the crops are located and the use of more chemical pesticides to combat pests and diseases.”

Darolt points out that these foods, often stored in cold rooms for a long time, may have received excessive amounts of pesticides or undergone conservation methods that compromise their biological quality. “The ideal choice would be to opt for food from the region and produced organically, always checking its origin”, he advises.

However, the fast pace of modern life has kept us away from seasonal foods, without knowing the origin, cultivation method and place of production of the food we consume, limiting us to selecting what is immediately available in supermarkets.

The program manager, Rodrigo Wormsbecker, is a consumer of organic products and highlights that, in addition to helping the wallet, buying food when it is produced helps create a food rotation, which, in turn, introduces a healthier diet, source of more nutrients, tastier and with a stronger aroma. “Seasonal foods are more nutritious, consequently healthier and tastier and, as they have the chance of containing less pesticides, depending on the food, we can consume the stems (carrots) or leaves (such as radishes), thus making full use of the food”, explains.

By AEN

(Editor Sou Agro/Sou Agro)