I woke up this morning to a great article on yahoo...

http://green.yahoo.com/blog/the_conscious_consumer/125/seven-foods-chefs-avoid-right-now.html

Seven Foods to Avoid Right Now

And the article was written with March in mind. What it basically encourages the reader to do it think about what food could be grown right now, and what fresh vegetables and fruit are offered in the grocery stores. Since the south's growing season is just starting, and here in the north, it is still a distant thought, most of what is in the stores is coming from South America or over seas.

Why is that bad? The biggest problem is that these foods have very little flavor by the time they reach our grocery shelves. And, although the article didn't mention this, with reduced flavor naturally come reduced nutrition.

So what is a cook to do? Plan ahead. At the end of summer, when foods are at their peek and there is an abundance, you need to think about storing these foods for winter. I can a lot of foods: beans, corn, tomatoes, tomato sauce, peaches, pears, etc. I also freeze many fruits, especially blueberries. In fact, I just opened a jar of peaches and, no kidding, it tasted like summer. Far better than even canned peaches in the store.

And the bonus is, that I know what chemicals/ingredients were used, if any, on all of this produce. Which is a lot more than I can say for the produce in the grocery store.