Your Comprehensive List
of Seasonal Foods
Eating seasonal foods is almost impossible these days. Everything is available year-round in the grocery stores, since it's now being shipped around the world. This isn't always bad, especially when you use food for healing and need specific options. But the amount to which it's done along with the amount that generally gets wasted is appalling.
Having a fruit list and lists of vegetables like this can help you when choosing recipes for cooking in season.
There are several benefits to seasonal eating:
- Foods that are in-season generally have more nutrients. This is because foods that are out of season usually come from around the world; they have to be picked green, before they are at their peak, to be shipped to you without rotting. Seasonal foods, however, are picked at their peak and in your hands quicker, meaning healthier food for you.
- Seasonal foods are better for the environment. It's more likely that your food is grown locally or at least regionally when it's in-season, meaning less emissions in sending it your way. It also takes less energy and input to grow foods in their ideal climate and growing conditions, meaning a smaller ecological footprint to your eating.
- Seasonal eating can actually mean MORE variety. Think about it: We tend to get stuck in our food ruts, eating the same foods year-round. When you're eating from a seasonal fruit list or seasonal lists of vegetables, you'll be eating new things every season. This also makes things like strawberries a really enjoyable when you know you'll only find sun-riped strawberries in the summer months - you'll be sure to enjoy them to their fullest potential!
Seasonal Fruit List
A great way to remember lists like these is to think about tradtional foods, such as cranberry at Thanksgiving or citrus fruits in the winter time when we need the extra vitamin C for colds.
IMPORTANT: Keep in mind that seasonal foods vary depending on region, meaning local foods take priority!
If you live in Southern California, Florida, South America or Australia, your options in December are far different than someone living in Michigan, Ontario or Finland.
So use these fruit lists and lists of vegetables as a guidelines, but explore your local farmer's market and ask the farmer's what you can expect year-round. They will often have great seasonal recipe ideas, too.
| Spring | Summer | Fall | Winter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apricots Cherimoya Cherries (Barbados) Honeydew Jackfruit Limes Lychee Mango Melon (Bitter) Oranges Pineapple Strawberries |
Apricots Asian Pear Barbados Cherries Black Crowberries Black Currants Blackberries Blueberries Boysenberries Breadfruit Cantaloupe Casaba Melon Champagne Grapes Cherries Cherries, Sour Crenshaw Melon Durian Elderberries Figs Grapefruit Grapes Honeydew Melons Jackfruit Key Limes Limes Loganberries Longan Loquat Lychee Mulberries Nectarines Olallieberries Passion Fruit Peaches Persian Melon Plums Raspberries Sapodillas Sapote Strawberries Sugar Apple Tomatoes Watermelon |
Black Crowberries Cactus Pear Cherries, Barbados Apples Cranberries Feijoa Gooseberries, Cape Grapes Grapes, Muscadine Guava Huckleberries Jujube Key Limes Kumquats Passion Fruit Pear, All Persimmons Pineapple Pomegranate Quince Sapote Sharon Fruit Sugar Apple |
Cactus Pear Cardoon Cherimoya Clementines Dates Grapefruit Kiwifruit Mandarins Oranges Passion Fruit Pear Persimmons Pummelo Red Banana Red Currants Sharon Fruit Tangerines |
Lists of Vegetables by Season
The seasonal foods listed below include all varieties of vegetables (roots, gourds, legumes, etc), as well as herbs, lettuces and leafy greens.
| Spring | Summer | Fall | Winter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Artichokes Asparagus Asparagus, Purple Asparagus, White Beans, Fava Beans, Green Broccoli Cactus Chives Corn Endive, Belgian Fennel Fiddlehead Ferns Greens, Collard Greens, Mustard Greens, Spinach Greens, Swiss Cha. Lettuce, Butter Lettuce, Manoa Lettuce, Red Leaf Lettuce, Spring Baby Mushrooms, Morel Onions, Vidalia Pea Pods Peas Peas, Snow Radicchio Ramps Rhubarb Sorrel Squash, Chayote Watercress |
Beans, Chinese Lng Beans, Green Beans, Lima Beans, Winged Beets Corn Cucumbers Edamame Eggplant Endive Garlic Lettuce, Butter Lettuce, Manoa Okra Peas Peas, Sugar Snap Peppers, Bell Peppers, Jalapeno Potatoes, Yukon Gld Radishes Shallots Squash, Chayote Squash, Crooknose Squash, Summer Squash, Zucchini Tomatillo |
Beans, Chinese Lng Black Salsify Broccoli Brussels Sprouts Cardoon Cauliflower Diakon Radish Endive Endive, Belgian Garlic Ginger Jerusalem Artichoke Kohlrabi Lettuce, Butter Mushrooms Peppers, Jalapeno Pumpkin Radicchio Squash, Acorn Squash, Buttercup Squash, Butternut Squash, Chayote Squash, Delicata Squash, Sweet Dumpling Sweet Potatoes Swiss Chard Turnips |
Brussels Sprouts Chestnuts Collard Greens Endive, Belgian Kale Leeks Squash, Buttercup Squash, Delicata Squash, Sweet Dumpling Sweet Potatoes Turnips |
You might be wondering about other seasonal foods, such as dairy, meat and eggs.
Traditionally, eggs are most "in season" during lighter times of year when the days are longest. They are still available in winter months, although will naturally decline as the days shorten. However it's a common practice for farmers to use articial light to increase egg production, although this has some controversy regarding a hen's natural cycles of fertility and rest.
In Nature, cows and goats will generally mate year-round, making dairy products available year-round. If you're buying local, the farmer's practices will vary depending on may factors, so it's best to check with them.
Traditionally, I feel we as both hunter-gatherers and as farmers would hunt or slaughter in the fall months when fresh produce was in decline to consume during the colder winter months when it could be kept easier and when fresh produce was scarcer. And I've found many of us who eat seasonally, naturally eat more animal products in the colder months than we our bodies want or could tolerate in the summer months when fresh fruits and vegetables are in abundance.
Simply put, this is what those of us eating according to Nature tend to find our bodies do: Warm foods, heavier foods and root foods in the winter when our bodies need more warmth, as well as citruses when available for the vitamin C to keep us healthy, followed by salads and an increase in fruits and veggies in the spring, almost completely plant-based foods in the summer with a slow transition back into the colder months.
Interested in Affordable, Healthy Food?
We're extremely proud to present to you the Sustainable Baby Steps guides, helping you delve into the topic of making organic food affordable and simple with easy-to-digest, step-by-step information, inspiration, and tools to help you live green and healthy. Check out the following guides to see which might support you.
Or read more about this offer here.
Ready To Take More Sustainable Baby Steps?
Seasonal foods are just one aspect of healthy and sustainable living.
When you're ready for a few more steps check out the articles below.
Whatever step you take, remember to have fun!
#1-174 For references on this or other pages, please visit environmental articles.
*Please read our disclaimer regarding all health opinions shared on this site,
as well as our advertising and affiliate disclosure.
Search This Site:
As Seen On
Stay up-to-date with new SBS articles and receive our free ebook
*Any health-related topics shared on this site are solely the opinion of the author or guest author. These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. Any products or statements are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease. Sustainable Baby Steps is not a replacement for your own best judgment or a medical professional where indicated. Always consult your own opinion and/or your health care provider when making important health care choices. Read our entire disclaimer here.
New! Comments
Have your say about what you just read! Leave me a comment in the box below.