Seasonal fruit and vegetables: why they matter

Eating fruit and vegetables in season is more than a traditional practice or an environmentally sustainable choice. It has practical implications for flavour, nutritional content and cost, three factors that together make it easier to maintain a diet rich in fresh plant foods over time.

A basket of seasonal fruit and vegetables at an outdoor market — Seasonal eating brings variety, colour and flavour to your plate.

What happens out of season?

Out-of-season fruit and vegetables are often imported from countries with opposite growing seasons or grown in heated greenhouses. They may be harvested before fully ripening to withstand transport and stored for longer before reaching the shelves. Each of these factors can affect sensitive nutrients, particularly vitamin C and some antioxidant compounds, which tend to degrade progressively after harvesting and with exposure to light and oxygen.

Greenhouse tomatoes harvested green and ready for transport — Early harvesting and longer transport can reduce perceived freshness.

Flavour as an indirect indicator

A tomato harvested at the height of summer and ripened on the plant typically has a more intense flavour and higher levels of sugars and aromatic compounds than one grown out of season in a greenhouse and picked unripe for transport. This difference is not just about pleasure. Tastier food is easier to incorporate consistently into your diet, reducing the temptation to “correct” its flavour with added dressings, sauces or sugar.

A ripe summer tomato, cut open to reveal its juicy flesh — Produce harvested at the right stage of ripeness expresses its aromas more fully.

The financial advantage

Seasonality directly influences price. Produce that is in season and abundant in the local market typically costs a fraction of the price of the same product out of season, when it must be imported from far away or grown using more expensive techniques. Building your weekly menu around seasonal produce is therefore also an effective way to control food spending while maintaining high nutritional quality.

A market stall filled with seasonal fruit and vegetables — When supplies are abundant, choosing fresh produce is often more affordable.

Natural variety throughout the year

Following the seasons also encourages greater dietary variety over the year. This matters for the diversity of the gut microbiota and the overall intake of micronutrients and phytochemicals, each with a slightly different profile. People who eat the same vegetables throughout the year because supermarkets stock them regardless of season miss out on this natural rotation.

Illustration of the seasonal rotation of fruit and vegetables in spring, summer, autumn and winter — Each season brings a different combination of plant foods and nutrients.

Finding your way without becoming an agricultural expert

You do not need to memorise detailed seasonal calendars for every vegetable. A practical guide is to notice which produce is particularly plentiful and inexpensive at a given time, generally a useful signal of seasonality in supermarkets. Many retailers also show the country of origin on the label. Local or nationally grown produce is more often, although not always, in season than produce imported from countries with opposite growing seasons.

Frozen seasonal produce: a useful compromise

When a favourite seasonal vegetable is unavailable at a particular time of year, its frozen version — often frozen at peak season and freshness — can be a better alternative in both nutritional quality and flavour than an out-of-season fresh version transported over long distances and stored for a long time before purchase.

Plain frozen vegetables, berries and herbs organised in a freezer — Plain frozen produce is convenient and helps reduce waste.

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