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#regionalseasonal

Regional

Seasonal

Demand for regionally and seasonally produced foods is steadily increasing in the Grand duchy. As a small country, Luxembourg enjoys a particular advantage: its national food production is easy to monitor and manage. This creates transparency and trust in the production of regional foodstuffs.

10 reasons why local and seasonal foodstuffs are setting the trend!

1

Support for Luxembourg farmers, wine growers and horticulturalists, as well as the domestic processing chain
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Local small farmers find it difficult to compete with large food retail chains and to offer a comprehensive range of products. But the fact remains: without farmers, there's no food! Our farmers place our food on the table, so to speak, and commit themselves to maintaining high standards in the fields of environmental protection, animal welfare and consumer protection.

2

In deciding to buy regional and seasonal products, we are making a positive statement
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The customer is king! Each and every purchase represents a personal decision for or against a fairer agricultural, economic and societal model.

3

Local products stand for identity
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It's much nicer to bite into an apple from an orchard in the next-door village than into an anonymous product coming from the other end of the world. And why buy milk and eggs coming from far away, when these good things are available on our doorstep?

4

Regional and seasonal food production also has a social component
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Because it creates a personal contact between the producer and the consumer, through which the consumer learns to value and appreciate the work that goes into producing the foodstuffs concerned.

5

Seasonal and local foods are more environmentally friendly
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Outdoor cultivation, short transport distances with correspondingly fewer greenhouse gas emissions and reduced storage periods contribute to sustainable nutrition.

6

Seasonal and regional foodstuffs are not only healthier; they also taste better
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Since they don't have to be transported over long distances, they arrive fresh and fully ripened in food stores, and often prove to be of better quality. And if you know when such products are harvested, and buy them when they're in season, you will often be rewarded with an amazing taste experience. The short distances travelled have a positive impact on your palate, as well as helping to seal in goodness in the form of valuable ingredients such as vitamins and minerals!

7

Regional foodstuffs create trust
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As a small country, Luxembourg enjoys a particular advantage: its national food production is very easy to monitor and manage. Since the different production processes are simple to trace back, food scandals can more easily be prevented. This creates transparency and trust in the quality and safety of the products concerned.

8

Anti-waste
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Thanks to the short delivery distances, fewer foodstuffs perish and/or go off on their journey to the shelves in food stores. Consequently, by buying regional products, you are also helping to reduce food waste. For further info in this regard, visit: antigaspi.lu.
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9

A seasonal diet
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A seasonal diet gives you a better feel for the passage of the seasons, and may even allow you to rediscover forgotten types of vegetables or fruit!

10

Country recipes and award-winning cuisine with a Luxembourgish accent
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Whether in grandma's traditional recipes or in a gourmet restaurant, Luxembourg's cooking culture has always been based on access to fresh herbs, fresh vegetables, fruit and meat sourced within the region. And in the field of gastronomy, Luxembourg's country cuisine is an uncontested trend-setter, offering delicious traditional dishes such as – to name but a few – "Bouneschlupp" (bean soup), "Kniddelen" (dumplings) or "Feierstengszalot" (beef salad).

What does

"regional" mean?

Potatoes from the Ösling, or apples from Luxembourg? Depending on the product and the season, the notion of a regional foodstuff may encompass a wide variety of distances. It is not useful to seek to pin the concept down to a precise number of kilometres.

Consequently, "regional" is a flexible concept; it is not defined in law. Basically, when we speak of regional foods, we mean foods which are produced, processed and marketed within a demarcated region.

So you shouldn't hesitate to ask your grocer straight out to explain where the products sold originate from and which criteria are applied in advertising the foodstuffs in question as "regional".

Does "regional" mean the same thing as "local"?

The term "regional" does not mean the same thing as "local", even though many consumers assume that the two expressions are synonymous. In point of fact, a "regional" purchase invariably connotes an extensive area in which the goods in question have been produced. By contrast, the term "local" means something more precise; it signifies a smaller geographical area, such as a specific place within a region.

What does

"seasonal" mean?

A seasonal and regional diet is one where the food consumed is produced in one's region and in the current season. Accordingly, a regional diet is at the same time one which is consumed in season. By contrast, keeping to a seasonal diet does not automatically mean consuming only regional products, because it is always summer somewhere in the world.

Globalisation enables us to buy all sorts of fruit and vegetables all year round, and because of the increasing importation of foodstuffs cultivated in the southern hemisphere, we tend to forget that fruit and vegetables don't in fact have a year-round ripening phase. But is it really necessary to eat strawberries in winter, when they taste like nothing so much as strawberry-flavoured water?

A seasonal diet, by contrast, gives you a better feel for the passage of the seasons, and may even allow you to rediscover forgotten types of vegetables or fruit.

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