If certain food is “clean,” does that make other food “dirty”?

I’ve never really liked the term “clean food.” If certain food is “clean,” does that make other food “dirty”? I’ve never thought of that pint of Ben & Jerry’s sitting in my freezer as “dirty.” When we refer to some foods as clean, it gives all other food that doesn’t fit into that category a bad rep. Ice cream and other special treats are a small part of my diet. I think we should stop describing food as good, bad, or clean and start thinking about what it does for our bodies. Does the food we eat give us the energy we need to get through our days and to conquer challenges? Is it nourishing us, body and mind? Food is fuel and what we put in our tank matters.

Since food is a key energy source, we want to get the most nutritional bang for our buck. A simple way to do this is by eating variety of foods that are harvested at their peak to give us the most nutritional value. Fresh fruits and vegetables that are picked when ripe have the highest nutritional value. Once produce is picked and processed, it starts to lose its nutritional value, (such as vitamin C, folate and carotenes decline the longer it’s store. (https://www.rebootwithjoe.com/benefits-of-eating-seasonally/).

Certain foods that aren’t seasonal or local, like bananas, are part of my diet too. I really like them and I'm not willing to give them up. Your entire grocery list does not need to be strictly seasonal, I know mine isn’t. The key is to start small and enjoy experimenting with unfamiliar ingredients or old ingredients in new ways.

Seasonal eating varies region to region. I live in the North East so my grocery list will look a lot different than someone is the South West. When trying to figure out what’s in season where you live, a simple google search is a good place to start. Another way to find out what’s in season is by checking out a local growers’ market. I tend to eat a lot more fruit in the summer. Strawberries in June, blueberries in July, and watermelon every day from mid-June to August. One of my favorite early morning or evening activity is to go strawberry or blueberry picking. I freeze the berries as soon as I get some to lock in the favor for smoothies, pie, or muffins during the dark winter months. October just came to a close here in Pennsylvania. Here’s what my grocery list has looked like the past month: