France publishes best fruit and veg list for October

The seasonal list is a way for the ministry to alert French shoppers to the importance of consuming healthy food that will not break your budget, according to French newspaper Le Figaro.

It is also an attempt to nudge the French towards more seasonal eating, at a time when all fruit and vegetables are increasingly available all year round, despite the changing seasons.

The vegetable list includes: broccoli, carrots, cabbage, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, pumpkin, squash, courgette, cress, endives, spinach, fennel, green beans, lettuce, sweetcorn, turnip, onion, leek, potato, pumpkin, and radish.

Chives, coriander, sage, and parsley also feature.

The seasonal fruit list recommends chestnuts, quince, figs, raspberries, blueberries, walnuts, vine peaches, pears, apples, plums, quince and grapes.

Not only will eating more of these foods enable you to eat more seasonally, you are also likely to save money on supermarket bills, thanks to lower production costs.

Eating this way is also said to be more environmentally-friendly and save on your carbon footprint, because there is less chance that in-season foods will have been imported from a far-off country.

The list publication comes just weeks after a study showed that French people are more and more likely to buy organic (bio) produce, with figures showing the sector to have increased by 14% in the first semester of 2017.