Eating seasonal products is good for your health, your pocket and the environment. In addition to helping to reduce CO2 emissions and supporting the sustainability of the earth, you consume products that have been picked at their optimum point of maturity at a fair price and that favours the local economy.
Decades ago, the inhabitants of urban centres disconnected from the agricultural world and the natural rhythm of the land. Be it summer or winter, north or south, in Europe, it is always possible to find exotic fruit on the supermarket shelves. There are two ways to achieve this: importing or growing in heated greenhouses. Both methods have an impact on the planet, generate waste and greenhouse gases that increasingly destroy the environment. Many are fighting to get rid of this luxury to which we have become accustomed and wanting to go back to consuming products as our ancestors did: following the rhythm of nature.
Now, how do you know what to eat and when? Searching for calendars on the web, one is faced with a lot of conflicting data and information. The objective of this project is to create a reliable, complete and accurate calendar as possible. The project "Soy de Temporada" (I am in season) was an initiative which was born from a cultural project called MediaLab Prado organised by the Madrid council. The original objective was to develop several calendars depending on the growing area, but due to lack of data, it was decided to create a single calendar for the entire peninsula.
With this project, they wanted to provide a tool to support responsible consumption, limiting the excessive transport of food and cultivation in heated greenhouses.
To prepare the calendar, the team contacted organizations and people from the agricultural world to inform them about the seasons of the products in their area. They spoke with farmers, consumer groups, food observatories and organic production councils.
Farmers and organizations from various autonomous communities have participated in the survey: Andalusia, Asturias, Extremadura, Madrid, Murcia, Navarra and the Basque Country. The form is accessible here and the collaboration of anyone with knowledge of the natural cycle of plants is appreciated. All the results were averaged to create a single calendar that gathers information from all areas of the Spanish peninsula. You will be able to see the results at www.soydetemporada.es where you will find an easy to use the calendar for seasonal fruit and veg.
Pay it a visit a discover what is in season this month and next!