What food should we give up soon?

Living sustainably

Whether it is summer or winter that cannot be said about the bulging supermarket shelves. Strawberries and apples are available all year round, whether they are in season or imported. This has consequences – also for the environment.

In order to do something good for the environment and the climate, but also for your health, it is beneficial to avoid certain foods in the winter months.

You can read here which foods are in season in October:

Strawberry

If you keep spotting strawberries and blueberries in the supermarket, you better keep your hands off them. In most cases, sweet berries are imported from abroad, for example from Spain, Morocco or New Zealand. Due to exploitative working conditions, heavy use of pesticides, and questionable irrigation methods, farms are also subject to criticism.

Most of the strawberries we find in the supermarket during the winter months do not come from Germany.Photo: Watson/Josephine Andreoli

Strawberries from Germany are also best avoided. Since they do not grow here in the fall and winter, they can only ripen in greenhouses with a large expenditure of energy. In an energy crisis, high energy consumption makes you lose your appetite.

grapes

As of November, the grapes we offer mostly come from South Africa, India, Chile or Brazil. Because the grapes do not ripen, they are harvested when they are ripe and then transported to us by ship. Depending on where it was imported from, this can be noisy “The virtuous city” It lasts up to three weeks.

In addition, traditional grapevines are often contaminated with pesticides because the vines are susceptible to fungus, lice, mites, and pests. This is not only bad for the environment but also for our health. Therefore, it is best to buy grapes seasonally and only in organic quality.

From November, grapes will come to us in Germany as imported goods.Photo: Watson/Josephine Andreoli

traditional citrus

Oranges, clementines, lemons, and grapefruit are popular vitamin C boosters, especially in the winter. but: Even if it says “untreated,” pesticide residues and preservatives are regularly found in conventional citrus fruits.

Farmers cheat – and spray aerosols, which should actually only be sprayed on fruit after harvest, on the oranges and lemons hanging on the tree.

The only thing that helps here: buy organic, preferably fair.

Imported apples

Even in the fall and especially when buying apples, you rarely think that the fruit may not be local. But watch out: Even now, apples imported from New Zealand and Chile can only be found among those from Germany. So it is best to make sure that you prefer the local varieties.

From winter to spring, the situation looks a little different again. In order for apples to remain crisp and fresh for several months, they need to be stored in a cool place. This swallows a lot of energy – It even makes apples from abroad “greener”.

In the fall months, you can not only buy fresh apples, but also pick them yourself. Photo: Getty Images Europe/Leon Neal

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So the following applies: Enjoy it fresh and seasonal, from spring it can be a Braeburn apple from New Zealand again (If it has to be an apple).

Imported nuts

During a cozy movie night on the couch, nibbles shouldn’t go to waste like nuts. However, most of them come from distant countries. Peanuts, for example, come from the United States and Israel, walnuts from California, and cashews from India.

In order to do something good for the environment, it is advisable to turn to native species such as walnuts and hazelnuts, especially in the autumn and winter months.

But be careful: you should always take a close look at the packaging to make sure the nuts really come from Germany.

Green salads

Because it’s too cold and the sun doesn’t shine enough, lettuce greens are grown in hot greenhouses and often end up in the supermarket unripe. As a result, not only are they less tasty, but they also contain fewer healthy nutrients such as vitamins and phytochemicals.

Instead of iceberg lettuce, lettuce is preferred in the winter months, for example.Photo: Getty Images Europe/Sean Gallup

But this does not mean that you have to do without power. Instead of iceberg lettuce, how about lamb’s lettuce, endive, radicchio, endive or purslane? These salads are also in season in Germany.

tomatoes

Tomatoes taste good with everything: in salads, on bread, in curries or in sauce. However, in the autumn-winter months, tomatoes come mainly from Holland, Spain and France. And here comes the same problem as strawberries: Tomatoes are grown in greenhouses – with a high energy consumption.

As difficult as it may be, it would be better for the environment not to eat fresh tomatoes. For pizza, pasta, and soups, you can instead buy organic tomato passata by the jar. Since many glass and canned tomatoes come from China, it’s worth taking a closer look at the label.

option

The same applies to cucumbers as to tomatoes: they should be avoided in the colder months. The option is only available in season in Germany from June to the end of October. Then vegetables come to Germany as imported goods.

On the contrary, this means not only fewer nutrients and vitamins for us, but also a lot of carbon dioxide emissions due to long transportation routes.

zucchini

Although zucchini is actually a squash plant, in Germany it is only in season from June to the end of October. On the other hand, pumpkin varieties such as Hokkaido, walnut or spaghetti gourds last in season until December, after which they come from local cultivation and are stored.