One of the easiest ways to keep your food bill affordable is to shop what’s in season. While it’s pretty easy to crave a fresh, green salad in January, when you’re trying to keep your food costs under control, you have to think about when and how to indulge those cravings if you want to make serious cuts to your food bill.
Here in Canada, we are so lucky to live in such an agricultural country. At this time of year you can find all sorts of things that haven’t had to be shipped from another area of the world and don’t have that added cost. I love visiting different farmers markets because what is available is by default what is in season. I can’t always afford to buy anything at the farmer’s market (it was $5.50 for a pound of peas this weekend!), but it is a great fact finding trip and a fun, free way to spend an evening or morning. When I do have spare cash, I love the freshness you can get from a local farmer and appreciate the care and love they put into the food they bring to market.
I love that stores like Sobeys have put a lot of effort into marketing which items are locally grown. Personally, I feel that Sobeys has the best signage and the best visual force when it comes to showing what is local, they mark them with signs of the province they’re from, and they always seem to have locally grown produce on sale!
Additionally, there’s power in even just telling consumers that they’re committed to providing access to locally grown produce- it keeps it top of mind! I think it encourages people to take an interest in where their food is grown.
So what is currently in season? Here’s the short list!
Vegetables:
Beans
Baby Beets
Cabbages (early)
Baby carrots
Cauliflower (early)
Corn (early)
Cucumbers (early for field, steady for greenhouse growers)
Lettuces
Spring Onions
Peas
Peppers (early)
Radishes
Tomatoes
Fruits
Apples (early)
Apricots
Blackberries
Blueberries
Cherries
Currants
Nectarines
Peaches
Strawberries
What are your favorite summer treats? Let me know in the comments area below!
Comments
Great post! I have recently started paying attention to the foods in season didn’t realize they could also be cost effective 🙂 just started following you, I have a vegan recipe/lifestyle & Cruelty-free beauty Blog as well, http://www.veganneeds.com
so glad I found your blog & Happy to connect with you 🙂
Thank you so much for your comment! I also followed you, I am not vegan or vegetarian but I think it’s important that collectively society thinks about our food choices. I trey to include vegan and vegetarian options for that reason- with so many differing food beliefs and dietary requirements these days, it’s imperative that even the every day cook know how to accommodate their friends! Thank you again, and I look forward to seeing your posts!
thank you so much 🙂 looking forward to your posts as well!