These days, the year-round availability of everything from Peruvian asparagus to Dutch tomatoes is pretty much ubiquitous in UK supermarkets. Such disregard for British growing seasons has become something of a cause célèbre for foodie types, and a new survey by BBC Good Food Magazine has found our knowledge of the seasons to be pitiful.
Of the 2,000 people polled, only 5% could say when blackberries were plump and juicy. And 4% guessed accurately at when plums were at their best. One in 10 could pinpoint the season for gooseberries. All of this is despite 86% professing to believe in the importance of seasonality, and 78% claiming to shop seasonally.
Thane Prince, author of Perfect Preserves and a judge on the BBC's Big Allotment Challenge, agrees. "I think it's quite tricky, because there's always something in season somewhere," she says. "It's a matter of trying to make sense of the seasons these days, and there is a natural body clock to food that makes seasonal food taste better."
Arguments in favour of seasonal eating go beyond flavour, however. The nebulous spectre of localism, inevitably, materialises. If you were to argue that, in a blind tasting, most of us wouldn't be able to tell the difference between British and Peruvian asparagus, you would, in all likelihood, be met with a volley of argument concerning air miles and freight and footprints. This is largely bunk. Unless you live in an asparagus-producing part of the country – the Vale of Evesham, say – then the ecological impact of Peruvian versus British asparagus is vanishingly small
https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/wordofmouth/2014/aug/12/seasonal-eating-vegetables-uk-does-it-matter
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