Planet Friendlier: Changing of the seasons
Is climate change altering the calendar for harvesting fruit and veg? Here's food for thought, plus a few recipes to help reduce your impact on the environment
We say that eating seasonally is more ‘sustainable’ but what does that really mean? Seasonality is a much-used term when we talk about produce, and we assume that each season gives rise to certain foods appearing in shops without taking stock of how climate change might affect the usual pattern. Last year wasn’t like the year before, or the year before that – rainfalls varied, light levels fluctuated, it got hot and cold at inappropriate moments, and yet we expect what we eat, and when we can eat it, to remain the same.
Climate change is blurring the edges of the seasons and extending our window to grow produce, estimated as a month longer than the 1960s according to the Royal Meteorological Society (technically the growing season starts when the temperature gets to five degrees Celsius or more for five consecutive days and ends when the temperature drops below five degrees or more for five consecutive days). Mild weather means the arrival of asparagus gets earlier each year, so there’s no waiting around for 23 April for the traditional start of the season. While that’s good news for asparagus growers and enthusiasts, extreme weather events such as flooding and drought are more common, and changes in temperature, light and rainfall can be detrimental to other crops. Across the last two years the UK had the wettest 18 months since records began, meaning flooded farms, waterlogged soil and, according to DEFRA, veg production was down 4.9 per cent and fruit 12 per cent. Last year was dismal for potatoes and DEFRA have estimated that the wheat harvest could be the second worst since records began. The first ever food security index was published by the government in 2024 to track the increasing threats to food supply.
Our weather is no longer reliably ‘seasonal’, and we need to be more aware of what that might mean in relation to what we eat. Where crops are grown may also change as growing conditions become more favourable in some places. Vineyards have sprung up all over the south of England and our sparkling wines are global award winners, though the September rain last year made 2024 challenging for vineyards, too.
Who knows what 2025 will bring, but it pays to keep an eye on the weather and to be a little more curious about what is really in season and when.
Our what's in season guides are regularly checked and updated to help you make seasonal food choices.
What do we mean by sustainability?
It might seem strange to have to qualify what ‘sustainable’ means but there are so many different (and differing) explanations that it seems sensible to lay out what we mean when talking about growing food.
This colourful chart is a framework set up by The Global Farm Metric to help farmers ‘understand, measure and monitor the environmental, social and economic state of their farm, the practices they use, the outputs from the farm and the impacts these have on the world beyond the farm’.
Sustainability is a measure of everything in this illustration. It is holistic and encompassing, unlike a term like ‘net zero’ which only has one measure – greenhouse gases. The pursuit of one measure in isolation is never sensible as it may lead to unintended consequences in others. When we talk about sustainability we are trying to think in the round.
For more tips and information on sustainable cooking and eating, head to our sustainability hub.
Things to know when shopping seasonally
Seasonality + organic
We asked veg box suppliers Abel & Cole to tell us how growing produce organically could affect seasonality, and they told us that, “in regard to the UK season, we often find that organic crops can start a little later and finish a little earlier as organic farmers have fewer options to combat pests and diseases.” So, you might have to wait a little longer for organically grown produce to arrive in shops.
Produce from abroad
Not everything that we eat comes from the UK. According to Fairtrade, we eat over 5 billion bananas every year. Bananas are not native or seasonal to us, but they are a year-round fruit that we probably couldn’t now do without, and luckily, they arrive here by boat which gives them a lower carbon footprint. Other fruit and veg from abroad that we don’t (yet) grow here arrives when it is seasonal in its country of origin. For example, we get avocados, melons, beans, pulses and mangoes from Spain, and because it’s close to us, this produce can come by boat and not via air freight. A good way to enjoy organic produce when it’s ripe is to seek out suppliers who are signed up to crowd-farming.
Veg boxes
If you buy your fruit and veg from a supplier who mainly uses local farmers, then you’ll have to eat what’s seasonally available, when it’s available. Schemes such as Riverford and Abel & Cole are widely accessible and there are likely to be local companies near you. A veg box scheme helps you eat more sustainably; providers often also work hard to strip out unnecessary packaging to cut down their carbon footprint and offer more efficient deliveries.
Meat and fish
Both are also seasonal and can often be cheaper at certain times of the year. Take lamb at Easter, depending on where Easter falls, lamb can be hard to come by. Much of it is brought in from the other side of the world. Eat it later in summer and it will be a seasonal meat grown in this country. Wild venison is also seasonal. It is shot out of breeding season when the population is culled. Wild deer have no predators and can do great damage to the landscape if herds get too big.
Check labels
The use of the Union Jack has got a little out of hand recently, so check the country of origin to see where produce is actually grown.
Buy a different variety
Biodiversity needs a reset; we need to grow and eat more varieties of everything as this helps with lots of issues from disease prevention to drought-proofing. Companies like Hodmedods have revived lesser-known strains of wheat and pulses – try carlin peas instead of chickpeas for example.
What more planet friendlier recipes? Have a look at these...
Zero waste recipes for everyday
What to do with leftover bread
Everyday recipes adapted for your airfryer
