Don’t know where to source in season, local produce? Start here !

Let’s break it down:
why eating local + seasonal is so deeply powerful for your body, gut, mind, and faith—

🌱How Eating Locally & Seasonally Heals the Body, Gut & Mind

1. Gut Health Loves Fresh Food

Truth is… Food starts to degrade as soon as it’s harvested — nutrient loss, enzyme breakdown, and histamine accumulation (👈 especially important for those with histamine intolerance or sensitive guts!) it’s part of the natural process, and then there are un-natural things done to food for higher profitability, which is misleading at best

Local produce = highest nutrient + enzyme content (as soon as it is harvested the nutritional value begins to rapidly drop)
Shipped produce = picked too early, chemically treated to “look fresh”, gassed to ripen, low-no vitamins + antioxidants left
The longer it sits in trucks, boats, warehouses = the more histamines, mold + parasites grow…

2. The Human Body Craves Seasonal Balance

God designed seasons to give us what we need when we need it:
For everything there is a season, a time for every activity under heaven [...] A time to plant and a time to harvest. Ecclesiastes 3:1

Summer foods: hydrating fruits + cooling veggies like cucumber, watermelon, zucchini = natural detox + hydration support
Fall/Winter foods: grounding squashes (hello, pumpkin season!), certain greens, animal fats = support for immune health and insulation
Eating out of season (ex: strawberries in winter)? Disrupts this flow, confuses the body, can aLeo affect hormones and blood sugar.
Food for thought: Could it be that eating foods in their season also helps our body’s internal clock register what season we’re in and thus help us get deeper sleep?

3. Supporting the Gut Microbiome

When you eat soil-rich, minimally sprayed, diverse produce from small local farms:

You’re exposed to more beneficial bacteria (eyyy gut diversity, skin health, and immune training!)
Helps your gut adapt to your regional environment, making you more resilient to allergens, pollen, and seasonal shifts
Pro-Tip: If you’ve moved somewhere new/on the struggle bus with seasonal allergies, getting your produce/meat from trustworthy local farmers could help your body adapt to your environment!

Mind Benefits

4. Mental Clarity & Mood

Fresh, nutrient-dense, local foods = higher in vitamins, magnesium, minerals, antioxidants → these directly fuel brain chemistry and are tied to brain fog, anxiety, fatigue, etc.

Also: less chemical exposure (glyphosate, pesticides, irradiation) = less inflammation in the brain, less DNA damage & less illness according to multiple studies.

5. Connection and Joy

You’re reconnecting with your food source — with people, not supporting mega corporations, who care a lot about profiting over nutrition, health, and safety. Talking to the farmer, seeing what God grew to nourish you — it’s healing to taste & see that the Creator has provided so much goodness for us…

It shifts eating & food shopping from being a task & chore to an act of joy & thanksgiving..

The (Unseen) Cost of Imported Foods

Long transport chains = more opportunity for contamination, parasites, poor handling, allergy contamination (trucks are often filled & driven with peanuts/nut shells flying about only to be filled with “non-allergenic” foods to be delivered via the very same surfaces)
Global produce is often irradiated, gassed / chemically treated (how else will it last long enough to show up on the other side of the ocean in aesthetically pleasing condition?) which has many measurable health risks to consumers & workers as well has huge costs to the environment and the future of clean farming & hygienic food practices (Source: http://foodcomm.org.uk/campaigns/irradiation_concerns/)
We’re paying extra… for the gas/emission cost — not so much for the food quality

Farmers Markets Are Game-Changers To Health

You get to ask good questions:
- “How was this grown?” “Is this sprayed?” “Are the animals pasture-raised?” “What is in their feed?” “What are they injected with if any?”
When it comes to nutritional value, produce is much more affordable at the Farmer’s Market (vs at grocery stores) — the nutrient density is MUCH more per item.

You want to consume produce as close to the time they are picked as possible to maximize their nutrient density
Research shows: out-of-season, shipped broccoli may have half the vitamin C of seasonal, local broccoli. You’d have to eat / pay double to get the same nutrient value as a locally sourced in season vegetable.
Nutrient Loss: A study cited by Dr Chris Kresser found that spinach lost 47% of its folate after 8 days

The average carrot has traveled 1,838 miles to reach your dinner table.

Chew on that…

Eat what your land produces near you. It matters. Heal with what’s near.

By shopping local…

We’re supporting local families with thankless jobs—
Personally, I love that I get to support farmers, who work all week to show up before the sun to set up, connect, and sell their crops to us.

Farmers Markets Tips

go the 1st hour they’re open - this way you’ll get food that sells out fast (i.e. farm fresh eggs) OR
go the final hour they’re open - this way you can get deals before closing!
take an insulated bag to keep your produce/meats fresh
bring a canvas bag, wagon, etc to help you carry your goodies!
order meat cuts in advance (ensures you get the meat you need for the week because they do sell out fast and butchers often have websites / email addresses set up so they can consistently show up for us!)

Why Eat Local and “In Season”