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Harvest season calendar

  • Published on June 29, 2016
The Harvest Season Calendar is a product that shows which vegetables, fruits berries, mushrooms and root vegetables are in season each month in the Nordic area. The 2016 Harvest Season Calendar also includes a Fish Calendar (information about the seasonality of over 20 domestic fish), a new addition to the concept. The concept also includes a recipe book that presents over 200 recipes using about 50 different vegetables. Produce that is in season is most tasty and retains a better nutrient content than off-season produce. Eating local or seasonal produce can be a sustainable choice and is also often more economic. The calendar makes it easy to identify which fruits and vegetables are at their peak and to find the produce at local stores, thus promoting the use of fruits and vegetables in a healthy, sustainable diet. The concept and active cooperation with food stores has led to an increase in consumption of seasonal vegetables and fruits and diversified the consumers' choices.
The objective is to change the consumption habits of consumers to include more fruits and vegetables and to diversify the choice of the produce that is being used. This is done by presenting, in an easily accessible manner, what locally sold fruits and vegetables are in season and at their best each month. The aim is to contribute to a healthier more sustainable diet that is also economical. Sustainability is increased by promoting consumption of more locally seasonally produced fruits, vegetables, and berries, which thus require less energy for especially production but also transports. The communication concept of the calendar has targeted both consumers and shops. It includes the calendar, which can be accessed by consumers via multiple channels and downloaded to a mobile phone. Stores, wholesalers and restaurants have started to use the calendar to influence consumer choices of fruits, vegetables, berries and lately also fish. Fruit and vegetable calendar The calendar includes over 150 locally available fruits, vegetables, berries and commercially sold mushrooms and root vegetables and their seasonality. The fruit and vegetable calendar makes it possible for any-one to stay up to date on which produce is at its best each month. The fact that stores have started to use it in marketing and presentation of fruits and vegetables in their stores has contributed to making it easier for consumers to find the produce. The contents of the 60-page guide are the following: • Over 150 domestically sold fruits, vegetables, root vegetables, mush-rooms and berries • Seasonality for both domestic and imported fruits and vegetables by country of origin and month • For domestic produce that can be stored, the months when they are still good to consume • Recommended storage temperatures for ripe produce • Pictures that help identify produce, a guide for choosing as well as useful hints for using produce • Nutrient content of the fruits and vegetables The calendar sold on the www.satokalenteri.fi website; the app is sold on Google play and App store. The calendar is also available for sale at some food stores and bookstores. Fish calendar A newly added part of the Harvest Season Calendar is the Fish Calendar, which guides consumers to consume domestic fish when it is seasonally best available. The fish calendar is a new concept that has been added to the fruit and vegetable calendar. Recipe book The concept also includes a recipe book that presents over 200 recipes using about 50 different vegetables. The book is organized so that the recipes follow the seasons and use the produce that is at its best each season. The recipes include inspiration from other cultures where vegetable use in cooking is more extensive. Active cooperation with stores The Harvest Season Calendar team has built cooperation with some food store chains. Stores have started to use the calendar actively in marketing. Recipes using especially seasonal produce have been featured in marketing materials and the seasonal vegetables are prominently marketed and presented in many stores. Success Factors The success factors have been the commitment from the developers as well as the need and interest for this type of service. Both consumers and food stores have shown a very active interest and have taken actions to adopt recommendations in daily life and in business processes. Novelty This type of concept is new in Finland. Finnish consumption of fruits and vegetables has traditionally been limited to a few basic vegetables and fruits. Finns generally consume fewer than 10 types of vegetables on average. Knowledge has been low in the general population of when different produce is at its best and cheapest, and how to use many fruits and vegetables in cooking. Previously common knowledge about the seasonality and peak times for certain produce has been lost and the more exotic varieties are little known. The seasonal calendar has in part contributed to reviving the concept of seasonal consumption and has contributed to broadening the knowledge of the general population of more exotic produce and their uses in food preparation. Sustainability Impacts The seasonal calendar has contributed to diversifying the fruits and vegetables bought at stores. For instance, the S-market food retail chain has increased the sales of different types of fruits and vegetables dramatically as a result of the cooperation with the seasonal calendar. The sales of fruits and vegetables has in general increased by 12 million kilos in 2015. Some examples of the impact on specific produce are yellow garden beets with a 30-fold and pumpkin with a 10-fold increase compared to previous sales. The calendar concept has about 65 000 Facebook followers. The concept has influenced the catering sector as well as hotels and restaurants. It has also had an impact on food writers and bloggers that have quite a lot of impact on consumption patterns in modern societies. Challenges and potential for further development Food is a personal issue and preaching and negative communication is not effective. Positive communication and examples work much better. The experience gained from the seasonal calendar activities has indicated that what consumers are most interested in is cost savings and the taste of the food. Experience has also shown that the threshold for adopting new behaviors and using new produce in different ways needs to be very low. Only some consumers have a genuine interest in food and will adopt the messages. At the moment there are many food related beliefs that are not based on scientific facts and much disinformation is being spread about food, which is confusing for consumers.

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