I love having fresh produce available at local farmer's markets! I'll hate to see them go. I came across the following article regarding fresh produce, which I thought might be of interest to you. I learned a few things!
Fresher Doesn’t Always Mean Healthier
"Frozen foods can be not only cheaper but healthier - especially when it comes to fruits and vegetables in the winter and spring months. As Birdseye realized, fast freezing means more nutrition: One study found that vegetables such as green beans and spinach lose 75 percent of their vitamin C after being stored in the fridge for a week.
And at Arizona State University, an analysis found that ready-to-drink orange juice has less than half the vitamin C of frozen OJ and loses all of its C within 4 weeks of opening the package. So freezing really does help foods retain the vast majority of their nutrients.
Additionally, food processors pick "fresh" produce when it's still unripe, and then it sits on trucks and boats during its long journey-sometimes thousand of miles-to your supermarket.
But produce intended to be sold frozen is picked at the peak of ripeness - which means it has more time to suck up nutrients from the sun and the soil. So not only are frozen foods higher in nutrition to begin with, but they also don't lose nutrients sitting in trucks and then in the fridge."
More on produce:
Posts
