As the seasons change, so should your cuisine

A year ago this month I wrote in Recoil a piece called “As the leaves change color, so should your beer.” Seasonality, I argued, was the antidote to the lassitude afforded by drinking one’s favorite beer all year long. Fall is here, ready or not, and malty brown ales can help one coax. When it gets a little colder, a potent stout is effective. Really cold out? just nip some apple brandy. Hops move spring forward and hefeweizen dries the summer sweat off of one’s brow – all facts the brewing industry has by now educated most all but the greenest consumer. Now, these seasonal taste arrangements may prove true, both historically and contextually, but the foods which accompany these styles have only recently been available year round.

Human culture is inextricably linked to the seasons. Rational efficiency, coupled with ever increasing technology, however, has allowed for many of us to be removed from the ebb and flow of gradual seasonal drift – most likely to our detriment. This modernization is nowhere more evident than in the arena of food. Compared to past and foreign cultures, we Americans eat a lot. We also eat whatever we want, whenever we want it. This is not to say that we are inherently selfish gluttons. Actually, the greed begins long before we eaters partake – on the highways of the industrialized food chain – an arrangement we find ourselves at the bottom of.

For a little context, imagine that not until the mid 1970’s was California produce available nationally. The time period grocery stores across the country began stocking cantaloupe, asparagus, leeks and tomatoes year around and out-of-state, as opposed to seasonally, represented an economical crux – food was now being produced cheaply and abundantly enough to make cross-nation refrigerated trucking profitable. Other food producing regions soon branded and followed suit. (Washington apples, Wisconsin cheese, Idaho potatoes, etc.) What was once a luxury is now commonplace.

In order to make this happen, we the people sold out the farmer, subsidized his living to keep speculated prices low, divided agriculture and horticulture, standardized, pasteurized, homogenized, genetically modified, privatized and patented every congruent and painstakingly evolved farming process from fencerow to fencerow. What’s left is the indistinguishable mess located somewhere between farm and fork.

Today we’re feeling a backlash from this unsustainable system. Basically food, which was once a necessity and human right, has since been transformed into a commodity – a currency which is ultimately used to make the wealthy wealthier. And while we Americans are no longer starving in masse, diabetes, obesity, cancer and heart disease increasingly ravage our population – especially minorities and the poor. A pathogen based pandemic is sure to follow. Keep following me here and you’ll be rewarded with the knowledge of why drinking a local beer or buying a half-peck of fruit in season can help change these dire circumstances…

As West Michigan citizens, consumers and eaters, we’re in a great position to join a national movement towards sustainable, ecologically friendly, economically viable and efficient food production. Ask any agrifood sociologist or Lamont resident and they’ll tell you many farmers here have been cultivating using non-conventional (typically sustainable and organic) methods for generations. Why the stubbornness? It’s proven cheaper and more productive. There may not be a national or global alternative to industrialized food, but there is an antidote in West Michigan: buy your food, and beer, seasonally and locally.

Shopping and eating seasonally takes some practice, especially if you’re used to always getting what you want. Which brings up a good point – in getting what you want, are you really getting what you want? Fast food is an easy example: parts and pieces of who-knows-what assembled cheaply and efficiently as possible from across the globe. No one wants to be overweight and unhealthy, yet millions of us line up for unethical and unhealthy meals every day. No point in blaming the individual here – eating can be expensive, and these outlets can feed a busy family cheaply and easily. They are also extremely convenient and accessible – qualities CSAs and farm markets lack. So for those of us who can feasibly manage, eating locally, sustainably and seasonally will be hard work.

Start by learning about what is actually in season at Aquinas College’s Center for Sustainability: www.centerforsustainability.org. The delights of eating in season are three-fold. One, food in season not only tastes best but is actually better for you. Two, your dollars spent on food (think of it like a vote) will not be used to support long-haul trucking, international shipping, packaging or the bedeviled oil industry – instead your money will remain in and enhance your community. Lastly, as an eater who prepares local and seasonal fare, you will become an actual participant in an accessible and sensible food network – one which will surely enhance your and other’s well-being.