Celebrate Sustainable Food for Spring

Spring is a time of awakening and renewal. To me, it is more motivational than New Year’s, — the more traditional time for life-improvement resolutions — because I tend to still be recovering from the holidays.

For me, spring is the time to think about the food that I eat and to renew my commitment to eating food that’s healthier for me and our environment.

That’s why each spring I put together a realistic plan of things that I can do that are simple but that still make a difference. Here are a few of them to get your started.

Grow your own food. You don’t have to have your own farm or even a single acre of land, but even growing some of your food in a container garden makes a big difference to both your diet and our food system.

For those who live in colder winter climates and are tired of the limited number of fresh produce choices, celebrate the fact that spring brings a wider variety. Recommit to eating locally and enjoying what is in season where you live. As I have written about many times, eating seasonally offers many advantages including saving you money and providing fresher and tastier produce.

Spring renews the chance to shop locally for your fruits and vegetables at a farmers’ market or even by joining a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture). To find local, in season produce near you, check Sustainable Table or Local Harvest.

One of my favorite ways to celebrate spring is to go to a food festival or to pick my own strawberries at a local farm. Take part in a sustainable food activity in your community, or even while you are on spring break. Several organizations/communities have sustainable events or food festivals at this time of year. And many local farms and farmers’ markets have events to celebrate the season. Check Local Harvest to find an event near you.

Disclaimer: The views expressed above are solely those of the author and may not reflect those of
Care2, Inc., its employees or advertisers.

Karen R.

10:44AM PDT on May 11, 2012

thank you

send a green star

Lydia P.

3:10AM PDT on May 11, 2012

Why does every article about garden produce either show pictures of, or talk about radishes? Who actually eats these things? No one I know likes them.

GMS G.

1:10AM PDT on Apr 23, 2012

fruit and vegetables are all magic foods!

Abbey M.

6:40AM PDT on Apr 4, 2012

Great ideas. Thanks

Jennifer C.

6:18PM PDT on Apr 1, 2012

Noted. Thanks.

Dale O.

3:33PM PDT on Mar 30, 2012

Delightful and wonderful to grow my own veggies-limited now to a balcony but the fresh foods grow in containers and are tasty with my beef and other edibles that I can no longer get from the family hobby farm as we moved to town. Veggies can be grown is confined and smaller spaces so one does not have to stop growing those!

Dresia V.

5:55AM PDT on Mar 30, 2012

I love all fruits and veggies. I eat pretty healthy and no red meats. I Love the spring time because nature is coming back to life, they trees are waking up from a deep sleep from winter. Greenery will take over soon and then the beautiful days of summer will be here.

Micheal M.

5:24AM PDT on Mar 30, 2012

"Let your food be your medicine and your medicine be your food." Hippocrates
we must light up the darkness for knowledge is not power its empowering lets all be empowered to change. life has value beyond measure
Peace and Love

Carol P.

11:02PM PDT on Mar 29, 2012

Loving the buds on the trees and have vowed to do better at buying seasonal foods this year.

No Emails H.

7:57PM PDT on Mar 29, 2012

I was part of a community garden project last year and it was awesome. I learned alot and got alot of fresh produce. I highly recommend Care2 members to check if there is a community garden where they live.