Healthy and Sustainable Food
 Healthy Harvest: New England (online guide)
Download the Healthy Harvest: New England pocket guide:
Complete Guide (pdf)
Download by season (pdf):
Winter | Spring | Summer | Fall
Request a Printed Pocket Guide
Healthy Harvest: Mid-Atlantic (online guide)
Download the Healthy Harvest: Mid-Atlantic pocket guide:
Complete Guide (pdf)
Download by season (pdf):
Winter | Spring | Summer | Fall
Request a Printed Pocket Guide
Acknowledgements
The Center for Health and the Global Environment at Harvard Medical School would like to extend special thanks to Joan Gussow, Ph.D., Mary Swartz Rose Professor Emeritus of Nutrition and Education at Teacher's College, Columbia University and Jennifer Wilkins Ph.D., Senior Extension Associate, Division of Nutritional Science, Cornell University for their leadership on this project as well as to Susan M. Cooper, MS, RD; Sarah Shanahan MS, RD and Dana Angelo White, MS, RD, ATC for their writing and research on the fruit and vegetable profiles and white papers that comprise this website.
The Center would also like to thank the following faculty in the Department of Horticulture at Cornell University for their review of varieties, seasonal availability, and descriptions of these fruit and vegetable profiles:
Dr. Marvin Pritts, Professor and Chair (berries) | Dr. Ian Merwin, Professor (tree fruits) | Dr. Bruce Reisch, Professor (grapes) | Dr. Chris Wein, Professor (peppers and other vegetables) | Dr. Anu Rangarajan, Associate Professor (fresh market vegetables).
Caveat about availability
A word about availability of regional fruits and vegetables profiled on this website.
The profiles featuring varieties of fruits and vegetables commonly produced in New England or the Mid-Atlantic States provide information about availability. There are a few things to understand about availability in order to become a well-informed local eater.
First, it is important to remember that the time of availability should not be confused with the harvest period. For many fruits and vegetables – those that are highly perishable and do not store well – the period they are available fresh in any given area will be roughly the same as the availability period. For some fruits and several vegetables that store well – such as apples, root vegetables, winter squashes, and cabbages –fresh/stored produce can be available for substantially longer than harvest time. And, of course, drying, canning or freezing can make the harvest last through the winter.
The availability also should be read as approximate periods of time. The availability of fruits and vegetables is impacted by other factors in addition to storability and processing. Harvest period and storability may vary significantly for different varieties of any given fruit or vegetable. Also, within the mid-Atlantic and New England regions there is a wide range of climatic, or “hardiness” zones – referring to the average annual minimum temperature –important determinants of which plants can be grown, how early crops can be planted, and hence, when they will be ready for harvest. So, the availability periods given in the profiles should be interpreted as averages, which need to be adjusted for localized conditions and "micro-climates”.
Finally, there’s the (increasing) unpredictability of nature and the weather. The last or first frost dates of one year, may be a poor indicator of what they will be the next. The sunny, relatively dry summer that is making New York grape growers happy this year, may not replay next year, leading to dampening harvest projections. Harvest dates and total yield in any area are influenced by yearly variability in temperatures, sunlight, and rainfall. |
