Freezing the Freshest Harvest

Jul 23, 2012 Posted by Adam Sutherland on Jul 23, 2012

Fresh indeed is best, however, we have to face the fact that it just isn't practical to hit the market or supermarket to grab the freshest harvest every time we prepare food.

Frozen foods such as fruit and vegetables are generally preserved with their nutrients intact so one can say they that frozen fruit and vegetables are "almost as fresh" as when they are when purchased directly from the supermarket.

For practical reasons, trips to the grocery stores and markets are best done once a week. This saves gas, time and effort and helps preserve nutrients that are lost when produce sits on the market shelves or in your fridge for too long.

Yes, fresh is certainly the best option but in a world of convenience and fast food it really gets down to one's lifestyle as to the nutritional choices one needs to make when considering what to cook or eat for breakfast, lunch or dinner.

There's only so many frozen dinners one should eat as they are not as nutritional for you as eating fresh produce.  So what's the answer?  Being conscious of the nutritional value of fresh versus frozen food will help you to balance the need to eat fresh food at least a couple of times a week.

There's also a time limit to freezing certain foods as they continue to lose nutritional goodness over time, a helpful guide is provided below for your convenience.

PS – Don't forget to label or write the date on your frozen food so you can keep an eye on frozen foods that should be thrown out rather than consumed.

Fresh Veggies

Our world today is that of convenience and fast moving.  From frozen to fresh, from long life to packaged, our forefathers could only have imagined the types of foods we see today.

When it comes to nutrition, our predecessors sure had the upper hand.  However, is this true in all cases?  There is much confusion in the nutritional value of one aspect of our life of convenience – fresh v frozen.   Fresh is always best, however, there are times when frozen can actually take the lead.

When it comes to vegetables, the longer the produce lies on the shelf, the more nutrients they tend to lose.  It is therefore more nutritionally sound to consume vegetables the moment they are harvested.  In the era of farming, this is exactly what they did, benefitting from the process of the cycle of harvest to plate.  Many of us now enjoy city living so this is not always practical.  The cycle of harvest to plate now has a middle man by the name of supermarket where produce lies on the shelf often without even a look in.  The longer they are ignored, the more nutrients are lost.

Frozen fruits and vegetables are harvested at the peak of their season, blanched and are then snap frozen preserving the nutrients at the same time.  Fresh fruits and vegetables are best eaten at first pick. A home grown vegetable patch is the best option of all.  You know exactly when they are picked and what synthetic chemicals, if any have been used.  Markets are another way to get your fresh vegetables with reassurance they have not been kept in store rooms therefore protecting their nutrient content. 

The following is a guide to freezing food:

Red Meat – 12 months

Poultry – six months

Pork – six months

Vegetables – six months

Seafood – three months

Original Article Here

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