Seasonal fruits and vegetables come with many benefits for your taste buds, health, and wallet. Foods that are grown and harvested during their peak season will often taste better compared to frozen or shipped produce because they're fresh and less time elapses from the moment they're picked until you bite into them. According to Cooking Matters, consumers can attest to the quality of seasonal produce; just taste a strawberry in May and compare it to a strawberry in January.

Fruits and vegetables also start to lose nutrients after they’re picked — the longer the travel time to your plate, the more nutrients are lost. Also, it often costs more money to import and transport produce from distant locations to your local store — therefore raising prices — than it does to import from a nearby source.

Check out some of our favorite recipes using fruits and vegetables that are in peak season this spring.

Freshly Picked Produce
Produce that's been freshly picked and sold during peak season may taste better and cost less. Photo courtesy of Pixabay, public domain