Fresh Versus Frozen Food: Which Is More Nutritious?
In the hierarchy of vegetables, the best choices are fresh, in-season, and local. Realistically, though, that’s not always going to happen. For one thing, you might live in a climate where access to a variety of local and in-season vegetables just isn’t a thing. It’s also well established that lower income areas have fewer supermarkets, so fresh produce is less available. Although home-grown is the best of the best, I know that saying, “Just grow your own!” is presumptuous on a lot of levels. Assuming that you have the space and resources to plant a garden, time is a big consideration. Plus, once they’re grown, preparing fresh vegetables takes more time than preparing frozen or canned, which are already washed and chopped for you. All this is to say, I’m sure many of you find yourself turning to frozen and canned vegetables—as well as fruit, seafood, and meat—for reasons of availability and convenience. You might wonder if you are sacrificing any health benefits or if I’m giving y