As you know, we love making Seasonal Specials - but do you know why?
Eating seasonally was a practice our ancestors followed for thousands of years - not out of choice, but out of necessity. However, it’s something we’ve largely lost with the rise of industrial farming, despite it having several benefits to both our health and the environment.
Nowadays you can buy almost any type of fruit or vegetable at almost any time of the year, but just because it's available it doesn't mean that it's best of us - or for the environment.
Each type of food follows a natural growing cycle and so has a time where it's at its best both nutritionally and in terms of flavour. Since we only use organic or wild-harvested ingredients, there are only certain times of the year where we can source some of the ingredients used in our Seasonal Specials. For example, the organic blackberries we use in our Blackberry Carob bar don't grow in January, and the pumpkins we use in our Pumpkin Spice don't grow in the Springtime.
What I find particularly amazing is that the nutritional benefits of certain seasonal foods tend to align with our nutritional needs at that time of year. Both blackberries and pumpkins are rich in vitamin C - a nutrient that, according to many studies, we need more of in the colder months.
Eating in-line with the seasons also has several environmental benefits including:
- Fewer food miles - reducing the carbon footprint
- Support for sustainable farming practices - encouraging methods that protect soil and biodiversity
- Less waste - minimising demand for produce to be transported over long distances, which tends to require more plastic packaging
Find out more about our Seasonal Specials here
- Written by Patsy Mulcahy
