In Southern California, our year-round access to fresh produce is a true luxury. A meal made with farmers’ market finds always tastes better and is far more interesting than one made from a  grocery store’s offerings.

But why? To understand, we have to first get to know our seeds.

The fruits and vegetables we know from the grocery store—shiny, identically shaped, and unblemished—are hybrids. Through breeding of comparable plant types, hybrids can have the best features of both parents.  Because they need to survive long truck rides and fit into uniformly shaped boxes, these features include things like longevity, uniformity and color.

By contrast, the more diverse produce found from our local farmers often comes from heirloom seeds, meaning seeds that have been saved through the years.   Unlike hybrids, heirloom seeds have survived because of the variety of taste, their ripening time and their ability to grow in certain climates.

They may not fit into a shipping container easily and they might look a little disfigured, but they grow well in their local environment and boast interesting, varied and nuanced tastes that easily outperform their hybrid counterparts.

And because they don’t travel as well, it means they’re often only available from your local farmer.

Erik Oberholzer, co-founder and owner of Southern California’s farm-to-table Tender Greens sums up the importance of eating and cooking with heirlooms:

-        Improves the eating experience: Given the variety of heirlooms compared to hybrids, using them in your cooking gives you good, interesting variance in flavor, texture, and color. You’re using foods at the height of their seasonality, meaning they simply taste better. As Oberholzer puts it, heirlooms “move you into cooking with a particular style that’s reflective of what’s grown locally.”

-        Supports the local economy: Buying heirloom means supporting a small farmer. Oberholzer should know, as his restaurants source their produce directly from several local farms. “By buying from a local farmer, you support someone in your community who is a true farmer: passionate and connected to the land,” he says.

-        Shrinks the carbon footprint: Your food travels less and uses less refrigeration before it arrives on your table.

And we’ll add that you’re making a stand for biodiversity. According to the Sustainable Table,“while 7,000 different species of plants have been raised as food crops in the history of human agriculture, only fifteen plant and eight animal species are now relied upon for about 90%” of food we eat. By eating heirloom varieties, we acknowledge the variety nature intended.

Heirloom produce isn’t fancy or expensive. In fact, because you’re buying it locally and in season, it means that it’s at the lowest price given its abundance.

To save even more, Oberholtzer offers this tip: buy only what you need for that day’s meals. Shopping several days out inevitably leads to waste, as plans surely change.

Oberholtzer calls Los Angeles’s abundant farmers’ markets “handsdown” the best place to shop for heirloom produce.  Whole Foods offers options as well—just look for its locally grown tags.

If you can cook, save shop time by signing up with a local farm to receive a weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly box of produce through a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program. Just be sure you have the time and inclination to be an inventive cook.

Experiment with a garden, big or small:

Even if you just have a container on your balcony, you can take part in growing your own heirloom varieties. Non-profit Seed Savers is a good place to shop for rare options. For beginners, Eric suggests trying your hand with peas, which work well in urban settings.

Get eating!

Right now is peak season for all varieties of asparagus, onions, and peas.  And of course we’re just around the corner from summer’s bounty of beautiful, flavorful heirloom tomatoes (the kind you can just bite into). Bon appetit!