Creating Variety and Flavor with Seasonal Produce

Purchasing Seasonal Produce 

Find the best place to purchase seasonal produce for your program. Below are some ways that might work for you. 

• Community Supported Agriculture (CSA): This often requires you to purchase shares of food up-front and then pick it up during the harvest season. You may not always know what you will receive weekly, so menu planning may require flexibility. 
• Cooperative Buying: In this method, you may partner with other child care programs to buy bulk from farmers to keep costs low. 
• Farm Direct: Your program contacts a farm directly to determine where your needs and farm availability overlap. Then you can determine what you will purchase from the farm and when it will be available. 
• Farmer’s Market: Most communities have weekly farmer’s markets where you can buy directly from farmers. The LocalHarvest website can help you find a farmer’s market near you. 
• Grocery Stores: Many grocery stores will highlight local produce, which helps you know where the items are grown. 
• Produce Suppliers: Many produce suppliers that serve large organizations offer local products. 

You can find contact information, websites, and vendors for many of these purchasing methods in your area through the USDA Local Food Directories. 

Cycle Menus and Seasonal Produce 

A cycle menu is a series of menus planned and served for a period of time (for example, four weeks) and then repeated. 

Cycle menus are easy to change once you plan them. A substitution can be as easy as using a seasonal version of a vegetable or fruit. For example, strawberries are often in season during spring; you can serve them as the fruit for a reimbursable CACFP lunch instead of another fruit listed on the cycle menu. Apples are more likely to be in season in the fall, so you can substitute them on the menu. Be sure to keep accurate records by marking any changes on your menu. 

You can also substitute different forms of fruits and vegetables (fresh, canned, and frozen) to fit the season. For example, add local fresh strawberries to menus in spring and early summer, and frozen strawberries in the fall and winter. 

Easy Switches for Seasonal Produce 

You can substitute different seasonal vegetables or fruits in the same recipe throughout the year, depending on when they are available locally. Substituting seasonal produce offers flexibility to your local farmers to bring you a different but similar product if your original requested item is unavailable. An example of this is a salad recipe that calls for leafy greens. If the original recipe calls for iceberg and romaine lettuce, you can adjust the recipe to use seasonal kale in the fall. In the Spring, you could use seasonal spinach. 

Below is a table of possible seasonal substitutes for salads, sandwiches, and roasted vegetables. Don’t be tied to this list. The possibilities are endless! Remember, seasonal produce varies depending on where you live. 

 

	Spring	Summer	Fall	Winter
Salads	Asparagus Avocados Broccoli Cabbage Carrots Celery Herbs Kale Kiwi Lettuce Mushrooms Onions Peas Radishes Spinach Strawberries	Apples Appricots Avocados Beets Bell peppers Blackberries Blueberries Carrots Celery Cherries Corn Cucumbers Green beans Peaches Plums Raspberries Strawberries Summer squash Tomatoes Zucchini	Apples Beets Bell Peppers Broccoli Brussels spouts Cabbage Carrots Cauliflower Celery Collard greens Cranberries Grapes Greenbeans Kale Lemons Kiwi Lettuce Limes Mushrooms Pears Peas Potatoes Radishes Raspberries Spinach	Apples Avocados Beets Brussels sprouts Cabbage Carrots Celery Grapefruit Kale Kiwi Lemons Limes Onions Oranges Parsnips Pears Potatoes
Sandwiches	Asparagus (thinly sliced) Avocados Cabbage Carrots (thinly sliced) Kale Lettuce Mushrooms Onions Radishes Spinach	Apples (thinly sliced) Bell peppers Cabbage Carrots (thinly sliced) Kale Lettuce Mushrooms Pears (thinly sliced) Radishes Spinach	Apples (thinly sliced) Avocados Cabbage Carrots Kale Onions Pears (thinly sliced)
Roasted Vegetables	Asparagus Broccoli Carrots Onions Radishes Turnips	Beets Bell peppers Carrots Eggplant Green beans Okra Summer squash Tomatoes Zucchini	Beets Bell peppers Broccoli Brussels sprouts Carrots Cauliflower Green beans Kale Mushrooms Onions Parsnips Potatoes Pumpkin Rutabaga	Beets Brussels sprouts Carrots Kale Leeks Onion Parsnips Potatoes Pumpkin Rutabaga Sweet potatoes/yams Turnips Winter squash

 

For more tips, read ICN’s July Mealtime Memo.