Given our myriad of options at restaurants, and in grocery stores, eating with the seasons seems a far gone endeavor, elusive and unreachable. But you don’t need to understand the winds, the moon’s cycle or listen through the earth to the coming rains, you just need the right tools. With apps that connect you to which vegetables are in season and grocery stores doubling their efforts to highlight seasonal produce, a simple trip to the store can put you in touch with what’s growing and producing right now. There are even resources to keep you abreast of what seafood is freshest and most sustainable. If you’re not the industrious shopper looking to seek out your own seasonal ingredients, many restaurants dedicate their ever-changing menus to showcasing the freshest produce and seafood of the seasons.
Truluck’s, for instance, has ensured freshness and sustainability by buying its own fisheries near Naples, Florida. Stone crabs are only captured and served while in season, and never frozen. On top of that, the crabbers are a do-no-harm kind of folk. When the crabs are caught, only one claw is delicately removed and the crab is then released back into the ocean. That claw will regenerate over the upcoming months and the little crab will just think it had a bad dream. Or maybe it won’t. We’re not crab psychologists. Just know that this keeps the waters in Naples full of long living stone crabs and we here in Dallas get to feel a little better about our indulgence. So not only do you get seasonal, fresh crab, but you’re helping support a practice that sustains life and longevity of our oceans.
