Meal planning apps are among some of the most popular apps on the market today. But while many of these provide tasty recipe ideas and help us streamline the cooking process, few offer consumers the resources we need to eat more fresh, seasonal, and local foods.
Fortunately, there are select apps on the market to help users access food that is both fresh and local. Check out the following apps if you want to learn more about which foods are in season where you live, and where you can go to purchase them.
Locavore
Locavore is a free app from Local Dirt that allows you to browse lists of foods that are in season in your area, then helps helps you find local farms and farmer's markets where you can purchase them. The app also lets you see what other locavores are eating, and you can share your own latest "local eats" on Facebook.
For a thorough description and review of the Locavore app, click here.
NRDC Eat Local
The NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council) created the Eat Local app in an effort to encourage consumers to preserve our natural resources by eating foods grown closer to home. With the app, or by using its online counterpart, you can learn which foods are in season by state and locate nearby farmer's markets.
Harvest
The Harvest app won't tell you what is in season near you, but it will help you select the freshest produce at the perfect peak of ripeness. If you've always wanted to branch out and try new fruits and vegetables, but aren't sure how to buy them, Harvest can help you add some variety to your dinner table.
Seasons
Seasons is an app that, like the name implies, is meant to tell you when various foods are in season. For example, if it's July, you can use the Seasons app to determine what is in season locally during the month, as well as what is in season for import from other parts of the world. Fruits, vegetables, herbs, mushrooms, and nuts are all included in the Seasons database.
The trend of eating locally and seasonally is one that appears to be here to stay, so it's surprising that there are so few apps designed to help consumers to do so. Do you know of any others?
