How It’s Possible to Eat More Local Produce in Winter

Food and Agriculture

Finding fresh produce can be more challenging in the dead of winter, especially in cold regions. Pixnio / CCO

It’s harvest time, and by eating what’s in season locally, people can reduce the carbon pollution caused by trucking food long distances.


That’s easy to do when farmers markets are open. But it can be more challenging in the dead of winter, especially in cold regions.

So Brooke Knisley of Alternative Roots Farm in Minnesota encourages her customers to do what their ancestors did: preserve food now to enjoy later.

“Items like berries, peppers, are super easy to freeze,” she says.

And root vegetables can be kept in a cool pantry.

“We installed a new large walk-in cooler system where we can store our apples and other winter storage crops – squash, onions, garlic – late into the winter,” Knisley says.

She provides those items to her customers, along with canned foods and greens that she grows in a passive solar greenhouse.

She says local farmers may offer more in winter than you realize. And talking to a farmer is also a chance to learn about their growing methods.

“Don’t be afraid to connect with your farmers in a deeper way or reach out to them at a point in the season to find out what they might have,” Knisley says. “So just rethinking what eating in season means and how you can integrate that into your life.”

Reposted with permission from Yale Climate Connections.

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