Does your diet change with the seasons?

I refuse to eat the crap produce sold in grocery stores, so yeah, it changes big time. I gorge on good fresh produce this time of year, and then try to get by in the winter on some of what I froze over the summer.

We buy as much as possible from local farmers, so our home-cooked meals typically consist of what’s in-season. I’m in the Midatlantic region of the USA, so we have a big shift in seasonal climate and produce availability. You make a good point about people in warmer climates. Do they eat as much soup and stew as those of us with colder winters?

As for my preferences, when it’s warm, I prefer cooler food with lighter and brighter flavors, like salads with fruits, sandwiches with fresh veggies, and sushi, etc. when it’s colder, I like heavy, savory, hearty meals, like pasta with meat sauce, soups and stews, anything with gooey melted cheese, etc.

Yesss, so much, and my wines change with the season too. I’ve been making a lot of salads with fresh local veggies and light seafood dishes. Like, probably half of my diet has been vegetables. I’ve been making stuff like gazpacho, fresh guacamole, fish tacos, and mango salsa. Last night dinner was broiled salmon and sauteed kale.

With stuff like this, I love fresh summery wines, like dry rosé or everyday white Burgundies. (They are more crisp, less oaky, and less heavy than California chardonnays, with fresh apple-lemon-hazelnut flavors.) Some reds are great for summer, too, like Barbera from Piedmont. It’s lightweight, not oaky, and refreshing, with sort of a tart cherry flavor. It’s great chilled. I also love this wine; it’s like sunshine in a glass and only like $12.

In winter, it’s more like, mushroom risotto with Barolo or broiled lamb chops with Bordeaux. It puts you in the mood for brown, earthy flavors. On the coldest nights, sometimes I sip on port wine a little. I also cook a lot of things with root vegetables, plus lots of healthy soups and stews, and some absolutely wonderful corned beef with cabbage.

Yes, summer is more light fare, salads, sandwiches, quiches, pasta salads, cheese and crackers, salami, fruits etc.
Winter is more soups and sauces and warm meals. I just brought up my wine glass from the barn from last nights feeding. Left it on a bale of hay in the breezeway. haha
I also do not drink wine or beer in the winter, or rarely, alcohol is a summer time delight but in winter when it is dark by 5 0’ clock I want something warm and soothing.

I did make a liller shrimp stir fry the other night over rice, another summer fav. that is healthy but also more than a sandwich and salad.

I think it’s safe to say everyone’s diet changes to some degree with the season changes, unless they ONLY eat packaged foods year round.

To some degree I am storing things in my den, because when I wake up from my winter hibernation in March, I’m going to be damned hungry.

@elbanditoroso So you are caching nuts and berries and caribou carcasses? lol

During Winter I definitely eat heartier, heavier meals like stews, lasagna, and casseroles. During Summer, I have lighter foods, often off the bbq.

Both of my parents were raised on farms, so they sort of had seasonal diets programmed into their lives. I grew accustomed to the same sort of menus, but over the years is has melted away some. I still have seasonal menus, but less clearly defined than when I first started a family.

Sort of. I drink hot coffee all year round because the office I work in is always freezing, so cold beverages aren’t a great idea first thing in my morning. During the spring and summer, I eat a lot of tuna and watermelon. In the fall and winter, I eat a lot of pumpkin-flavored foods and tend to stick to warm meals. My protein shakes definitely change. Fruity during warm months (mango/pineapple/banana or strawberry/banana) and rich and/or seasoning during cold months (pumpkin spice or chocolate/banana/peanut butter).

Dinners don’t vary much. We hate soup for dinner, so that’s only an option when we’re sick.

Yes, especially when it comes to fruits and vegetables. To save money, we eat what’s seasonal.

I almost asked a related question:
Does temperature affect your tastebuds?

Besides seasonal availability, some foods just seem to taste better when the weather is hot or cold.

I’ve also noticed that it affects my appetite.

I would think 95 percent of people are eating cooler foods like salads and more fruit in the hot weather and warmer, heavier foods like soups and stews in the cold weather.

Yes. Of course.

Everyone’s should.

Everything isn’t in season all the time.

Ugh, I hate catching stupid auto-correct fails in my posts after the editing window is closed. That should say “seasonal,” not “seasoning.”

@jca: “I would think 95 percent of people are eating cooler foods like salads and more fruit in the hot weather and warmer, heavier foods like soups and stews in the cold weather.”

I wonder how much of this is cultural.

My wife had spent time living in Bolivia in remote villages during college. The climate has oppressively hot while she was there, yet they would consume piping hot bowls of soup. I am under the impression that hot soup is also breakfast in large parts of the world, like Vietnam. And while I love Indian food, I seem to crave it more during the colder months. It serves as a type of comfort food.

@hominid – I have also observed that – such as Southern Indian Food can be so hot as to be inedible to me, but it comes from such a hot climate. I’ve formed the theory that by eating hot foods, it helps them tolerate the hotter climate, and encourages them to consume more water. I could be completely wrong, though; but if you’re sweating after eating a hot chili pepper, any breeze feels good.

@hominid I was also talking to my husband about how some things seem to taste better during different times of the day. But I suspect that’s more of a cultural or psychological reason for the same example that you stated (pho for breakfast).

I also don’t like to eat Indian food when it’s hot—but for different reasons. I don’t like to eat Indian or Mediterranean food when it’s hot because I can smell it in my pores afterwards.