Spring is in bloom and local markets are bustling with visitors filling their reusable bags with crisp ambrosia apples, cool cucumbers  and sweet bell peppers. As a Registered Dietitian with Philosophy Nutrition & Fitness and a curious home-cook I love to explore, talk about and prepare local foods. 

Taste is an important factor when it comes to choosing healthy foods. Large-chain grocery stores commonly sell only one variety of a vegetable such as cauliflower or broccoli, selected for traits such as pest resistance or rapid growth. On the other hand, most local farmers grow several unique varieties for their different flavour profiles and culinary uses.

Certain locally grown fruits and vegetables may offer a small nutritional benefit over their conventionally grown counterparts. For example, studies have shown broccoli, green beans, kale, red peppers, tomatoes, apricots and peaches are more susceptible to nutrient loss when harvested and transported longer distances.  Many  factors affect the nutritive value of produce including how it is grown, its ripeness at harvest, how it is stored, processed, and packaged.

Beyond offering an abundance of different tastes, placing your food dollar in the local food community:

• encourages sustainable agriculture
• creates local jobs and affords more income to local farmers
• reduces food packaging and waste
• supports better prices
• preserves local crop varieties and
  
• helps us to develop a deeper understanding of where our food comes from

Whether or not you choose to dabble in backyard or community gardening, there are countless opportunities to eat locally grown foods. 

• The Good Food Box  allows you to select and purchase local food online and have it delivered to your home; similarly
• The Organic Box delivers a weekly variety of local and non-local organically sourced foods to your home.
• Community Supported Agriculture links community members to a local grower; in return for holding shares in a local farm, you’ll receive a weekly variety of fresh organically grown produce from the farm’s harvest. 
  
• Visit one of many farmers markets sprinkled throughout Edmonton and surrounding areas. Find a market nearest you at www.sunnygirl.ca and connect with the farmers who grow your food.