Earlier last week, my boyfriend of several years made the comment:  “I’ve never made you my famous seafood chowder.”  Knowing the extent to which he once sourced the world’s freshest, gourmet, ingredients when creating his famous anything,  I responded, “That’s probably because very little of it could be sourced locally or in season.” This was no slight to his intelligence, but rather he felt, an enlightening 180-degree approach to his adventures cooking great food for the people he loves.
Over the past 10 years, I’ve been enlightened to the important task of designing meals and recipes based on the fresh fruits and vegetables that are in season.  Although today’s global marketplace allows us to buy foods grown virtually anywhere in the world year round, these options are not the most sustainable and traceability for food safety and quality becomes a threatening gamble.
Since opening my first farm-related business six years ago, my family has been eating locally and seasonally year-round, from right here in the foothills.
Though I am not a grower, my business of coordinating and distributing local produce, eggs, meats, prepared foods, value-added farm products and sustainably-caught Carolina seafood has made our transition to seasonal feel seamless.
After just a few months of eating like this, out- of -season or foreign foods (outside the American southeast) seemed, well, stale and foreign again.  Our CSA members (community-supported agriculture subscribers) share the same experience:  with an eight-week break between CSA seasons, some begin to “Jones” for the good stuff, not sure where to turn for their next local, organic, seasonal fix.