Perhaps you have heard of it and maybe you have not. Seasonal eating is not common in our American lifestyles, due to the convenience the global transportation of produce. Put simply, seasonal eating brings fresh foods that are at their peak during their growing season to your table preferably native to your region. Increasing your overall health by following the cycles of nature and working with your body. Being mindful of what you eat benefits you and your local economy. While it is convenient to go to your local grocery store and get any type of produce you would like anytime of the year time of the year from all different countries or regions. It is not, however what is considered natural for your body’s rhythms. When produce is grown out of season it has to travel long distances from the warm climates to be available at your store. Shipping is hard on the produce. Especially items that are particularly fragile like tomatoes and bananas. In most cases this means that more pesticides and chemicals are added during the growing process to make the produce hardier for transport. Of course buying organic helps to make better decisions, and explains why it isn’t always the prettiest produce in the store. No matter the type of produce, as soon as it is picked it starts to lose its nutrients. Fruits and vegetables are picked long before they are ripe, so they appear fresh when they arrive at your super market. This means that the fruit is not able to gain the amount of nutrients from the plant itself. Leaving this otherwise healthy food with little to offer your overall health. This is one of the reasons why our produce is no longer as nutrient dense as it used to be. Most families before WWII grew their own gardens and farmed their own meat. Finding that most of the feasting of fresh vegetables started in mid-summer and well in the autumn. Finding the squashes and heartier root vegetables could last longer into the colder months and be stored almost till spring. This is also why canning and preserving was more common and is coming back in to popularity. When you are unable to grow save and “put up” for during the winter. If you look back at your families traditional dishes during the holidays you will see these patterns. Having pumpkin pie at Thanksgiving, fruit cake at Christmas and fresh berries and ice cream at the 4th of July were because they were seasonal. Believe it or not your body responds best to eating this way. Eating fresher produce during harvest time boosts your immune system and prepares you for the long winter ahead. While getting into your fresher produce in the spring and summer aids your body’s natural detox from winter and boosts your energy level leaving you ready for a more activities during the warmer months. Try it for yourself and see how your body responds.