It turns out that choosing what you eat carefully is a good way of polka-dotting - by eating fruit and veg in season.

Rather than out of season.

I'll come onto why in a sec, but my main problem is, I haven't the first clue what the hell fruit and veg is in season? I live in Streatham. This place is not renowned for its vast tracts of farmland, although if you've ever driven through Croydon, you could be forgiven for thinking that there lives hitherto undiscovered sub-human life. In the Summer it gets hot, and in the Winter it gets cold. I have no idea when potatoes become edible or harvestable, or whatever the hell it is you do with potatoes when they're ready. Pull-upable, might be the word I'm after. The only reason I know that strawberries are in season is because the Wimbledon Tennis Tournament takes over the schedules and wipes out everything I normally want to watch on TV.

Cue the joys of the Internet. It's here so now you know:

Veg Seasons

A Chef For All Seasons

Cooking Outside the Box

Seasonal Readers Recipes

You see, eating fruit in season, my fellow townies, means that amongst other things, it's been grown relatively nearby. It hasn't had to travel far to get to you, because its been grown locally, at the right time of year. You can see where I'm going with this can't you. It's not been flown over from Lebanon, just so you can eat it NOW! (If you find yourself shouting: "I simply must and shall have Lemon Meringue pie despite the fact that the Lemons have had to come from Israel! It's my consumer rights at stake I tell you!", then you have a) lost the plot, and b) not really grasped the concept of how you can help look after the planet. Have a rethink.)

Admittedly we never grow lemons, for example, in Britain (at least not yet), but getting lemons that are in season from Spain is going to be much better for the planet than getting them flown over from the Near East. It just depends how much your conscience will allow.

Another good tip is to hunt out Farmers Markets. A Farmer's Market means that by definition the stallholders have to have made the food themselves, and must be from a definably local area. There are a few. Our nearest is at Bonneville Primary School in Abbeville Road, Clapham South. It happens on Sundays, 10am - 2pm. And best of all, we live near Borough Market. How cool is that? Although not everything at Borough Market falls under the remit of a Farmer's Market, much of it does, if you look carefully. That means we can get the best organic and non-GM stuff really easily, and we can get stuff that's been made or grown within a reasonable distance from where we live. This cuts down the amount of miles its had to travel. No air miles for Mr. Sainsbury.

See you down there.

technorati tags:fruit and vegetables, green, polkadot, borough market, farmers market, seasonal cooking

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