Eating through the seasons

Originally published in Lake of the Woods Area News, Volume 55, Number 3, Summer 2025

When we try to live more sustainably, many of us think about how our diet affects the planet. There are so many choices that we can make when it comes to diet, it can sometimes be hard to know where to land. We receive many diet opinions regarding health and sustainably that are often contradictory to each other. In previous articles I’ve asked readers to consider making these decisions from a place of centring themselves in a sustainable story that brings them towards the future world that they want to live in.

In the future that I want to live in, my community and I have a connection to the earth through the food we eat, which means sourcing this food as locally as possible. This is not always an easy task, and it requires that we adjust our diet to suit what is available to us..

How do you eat seasonally?

1. Choose whole foods. Processed foods not only can have health implications, but since they are incorporating a long list of ingredients, this increases their carbon footprint because of the increased production and transport impacts.
2. Find local sources. Of course the most local option is to grow the food yourself. It is very satisfying and motivating to eat food that you have raised with your own labour. Farmers markets and buying direct from farms are great options. Sometimes it is helpful to think about sourcing regionally, including Northwestern Ontario and Manitoba. Even when you aren’t able to access a direct to farm connection you can choose products from the grocery store that would be in season in your region. This increases the likelihood that the food was grown closer to you.
3. Let the ingredients’ natural flavours shine. Locally sourced food is often fresher, and when sourced from farms strong ecological practices often are more nutrient dense as well. Fresh, nutrient dense food tends to be more flavourful. When I was training in market gardening, my farm mentor was also a culinary mentor to me. He said, “Some of the best dishes only have two or three ingredients… and one of them is salt!”Judicious seasoning and attentive cooking can turn simple ingredients into culinary delights. 
4. Be flexible. What is available locally changes a lot from season to season. Being adaptive in the kitchen allows you to use what nature gives when she gives it. You can choose what to make based on what ingredients are available, or you can substitute ingredients in recipes with those you have on hand that are similar in texture and flavour.
5. Keep it simple and match the seasons. It’s okay to eat the same thing two days in a row. In our home, in the spring when our first lettuces are ready we eat salad almost every night of the week. During tomato season we eat tomato sandwiches almost every day for lunch. In late fall, we eat a lot of squash soup. Winter sees us eating more preserved food, frozen goods, dry goods, and whatever veggies store well.
6. Embrace abundance. When life hands you lemons you make lemonade. When life hands you zucchini you make zucchini fritters and zucchini bread. When life hands you tomatoes you make sauce and salsa. When life hands you cabbage, carrots, garlic, and onion you make kimchi. Learning how to preserve food is a skill that pays off the more you learn. Whether it’s canning, freezing, drying, or fermenting, these methods can have you eating locally year round. There are tons of reliable resources online that can help you get started and possibly members of older generations of your family who have some tips too. 

Personally I find it important not to approach a seasonal diet from a place of dogma, but from a place of joy. I love to eat seasonally, and I receive multiple layers of nourishment when I consume food that I have been on a whole journey with, from planting a seed and taking care of that plant as it grows, to harvesting and preparing that food for a meal. That doesn’t exclude enjoying eating other foods too. I want to feel good about my food choices and eating seasonally is a part of that. I hope it can for you too!