A few years ago I almost prided myself in remaining blissfully unaware of the seasonality of food. I even strongly considered selling my fridge because I preferred eating out at restaurants for every meal. Sure it was a little expensive, but it was easy: I didn’t have to shop, cook, or worry about using up all of my groceries.

Then, over the last couple years, for one reason or another things changed for me. One, I got married, and decided that I actually do like cooking when I have someone to cook for and with. And two, I also started reading popular books like Omnivore’s Dilemma, Eat to Live, and Animal, Vegetable, Miracle and realized how much damage the illusion of all foods being available all year was causing not only the environment but also our own bodies. I became so inspired by the idea of eating local that I am now in the process of starting up a new company that’s focused on building tools that help people always know what’s in season, and to help them eat local food as often as possible.

I’m not the only one that has begun moving in this direction. At the moment, there’s a bit of a resurgence of interest all over the world in sourcing food from local farms, eating food when it’s naturally in season, and avoiding food that has traveled too far to get to your table. To be honest, it’s not an entirely selfless motivation. Food that doesn’t travel across the country (or the world in some cases) is fresher, tastier, and often healthier than its made-to-survive-3,000-mile-travels-unscathed partners. It turns out that the process that makes food travel well often involves taking out the nutrients and flavor as well.

There’s a (some think silly) nickname that has been given to people who have decided to invest in eating locally grown food: locavores.

My first product is an aptly named iPhone app called Locavore that gathers data from a variety of sources and tells you what’s in season where you are, what’s coming in season soon, and where the closest farmers’ markets are in your neighborhood. The first screen automatically detects your location and presents what’s in season right now where you are. Fruits and vegetables that are going to go out of season soon are at the top of the list, so you can make sure to have them one or two more times before they’re gone for the year. It’s designed to be used while at the market, as a quick reference when you’re shopping.

If you don’t have an iPhone, or don’t need to have the information on the go, you can get the much of them same information from these very helpful websites: Natural Resources Defense Council, LocalHarvest.org.

Regardless of where or how you get your information, there are several ways you can begin putting the information to use in your life. Here’s a list of a few ways you can begin moving towards eating more locally, enjoying the freshest, tastiest food available, and becoming more aware of the food growing around you.

1. Visit a few of your farmers’ markets and get to know them. Every year might provide some fluctuation in availability, and the only way to really know if something is in season is to find it and verify that it was grown somewhere nearby.

2. When you know what’s in season, plan some meals around those items. The Locavore app links to Epicurious’s recipe search to help you browse recipes by ingredient, and you can also use their website.

3. Grow your own fruit and vegetables. Depending on where you live, you could convert a part of your yard, or use containers, or investigate whether or not there are local community gardens in your area.

4. Try your hand at resisting food that’s not in season near you. When it does come in season, those first few bites will be all the more delicious for having been refrained from for a while.