We’re turning the corner from June to July soon, which means it’s peak of the season for some of summer’s greatest fruits and vegetables. The corn is at its sweetest and juiciest and greens of all sorts radiate vivid lushness.

Whether you’re a devoted foodie and home cook or a budding, bumbling amateur in the kitchen, there are at least five compelling reasons to shop, cook, and eat fresh:

5) Cooking fresh is actually easier. Many people believe–incorrectly– that cooking with fresh foods is somehow harder than cooking with canned or packaged ingredients. The reason may be that most fresh foods don’t come with instructions. Cooking with fresh foods is actually easier and faster, though, than cooking with packaged foods. Besides, there are lots of recipes online.

First of all, think about how much time you spend just opening and eventually discarding the packages in which processed foods are sold. Huge time waster! Fresh food takes very little effort to get from market to table. With fresh ears of corn, for example, you can just pop the ears–leaves and all–into the oven (350^F) and 20 minutes later you’re enjoying the tastiest roasted corn you’ve ever had. If you’re having company and want to impress them, pull the leaves back (but not off) and tie them together with one extra leaf.

Vegetables are just as easy. Wash, cut, and toss some broccoli, zucchini, mushrooms, and eggplant with olive oil and spices; place in an oven pan and roast. This is much easier than thawing out vegetables or opening up cans!

4) Shopping fresh produces much less inorganic waste. Sure, you can recycle plastic bottles, aluminum cans, and cardboard boxes in many cities, but what about all that plastic wrap? 60% of the 30 million tons of garbage produced in each developed country every year is packaging waste. (Seen those plastic-wrapped apples and oranges at airports?!). When you buy fresh, you’re almost always buying zero packaging. The waste that is produced is organic (leaves, cores, seeds, etc.), and can be composted… even in the city!

Counter-top composters are great for disposing of fruit and vegetable waste, producing soil that can be used for planting (donate the soil to a local school if you can’t use it). They’re also cheap. Models start at $8.00 USD . They’re not messy and because they have carbon filters, don’t produce bad odors.

3) Shopping fresh means you actually develop relationships with people. Whether you shop at a local farmer’s market or participate in a community-supported agriculture (CSA) fresh vegetable and fruit delivery program, shopping fresh will almost always result in striking up friendships with other folks… from the farmer who planted and harvested the food you’re about to eat to the community organizer behind the scenes who makes markets and CSAs possible. These people will get to know you and will be happy to teach you more about fresh food. They also tend to have the unfailing ability to keep your preferences in mind. If you can say that about your local big-box grocery store, let us know.

2) Eating fresh makes you more conscious of the seasons. Try this experiment: between now and late August, buy fresh corn once a week. Each time you eat it, note the difference in taste. As the season peaks and then progresses towards its end, your awareness of flavor profiles will expand dramatically.

1) Shopping fresh stimulates the local economy. When you shop at a farmer’s market or participate in a CSA, you’re supporting your own community’s economy. You also become much more aware about the practices that local farmers use with respect to their employees… which is more than you can say for those grapes from Chile.

Do you cook fresh? What are your reasons? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

Corn photo: smcgee (creative commons)
Onion photo: gregkendallball (creative commons)
Compost photo: dkhlucy (creative commons)
Local economy photo: Fabbio (creative commons)