A trip to your area farmer’s market will confirm that Alabama agriculture is alive and well. Fruits and vegetables such as cantaloupe, watermelon, tomatoes, eggplant, blueberries, onions, peppers, summer squash, okra, green beans, sweet potatoes, figs, and muscadines are just a few of the many foods you’ll find in season in Alabama right now. Just a little lower South in sunny Florida, delicious avocados, grapefruit, tangerines, mangoes, and star fruits are table-ready.
Delicious, Nutritious, and Sustainable
Eating regionally grown foods promotes community wellbeing, supports local farmers and creates less waste and pollution in transit than veggies from other parts of the world. (For a great U-Pick experience, try Barber Berry Farm in Millbrook, Alabama.) Not only is local and regional produce good for the community, it’s an easy way to pack your diet with essential vitamins and nutrients that will keep you going strong. All the foods listed above are loaded with vitamins, antioxidants, and nutrients that your body needs to keep healthy and boost your immune system. For example, watermelon, pink grapefruit, and tomatoes are packed with lycopene, a powerful antioxidant that will help keep you and your family healthy and happy. Blueberries are plentiful and are loaded with vitamins C and K, plus freezing them doesn’t lower their nutritional value. Visit NutritionalData.com to dig further.
Where to Shop
Most of the above mentioned foods are available in select grocery stores and area farmers markets, not to mention the many stands that pop up near Montgomery-area intersections this time of year. Click here for information on River Region Farmer’s Markets.
Eating seasonal, regional food is just another common sense way to practice healthy, sustainable living.
