Are frozen or canned vegetables as healthy as fresh? Read this guide to make shopping for fruit and veggies easier, healthier and cheaper.
Unlike other trends that come and go, picking plants as the stars of your plate is more of a long-term lifestyle than a fad diet. Foods derived from plants have been appearing in our diets for centuries, but as we became more reliant upon packaged foods, less of us visit the produce aisle.
Admittedly, I spend most of my shopping time picking vegetables and fruits. I’m drawn to their different shapes, sizes, colors and, of course, their many uses and health benefits. My personal favorite section of the store is the produce aisle. For me, it’s the jewel in the crown of the supermarket. It celebrates the season, it’s the most colorful and it holds the most foods that don’t even need to wear food labels for them to show you what they’re all about.
It would seem like the produce aisle would be easiest to navigate since we only have to do picking without reading, but even choosing produce can leave us perplexed. In my book “Read It Before You Eat It: Taking You from Label to Table,” I guide consumers through the thousands of confusing and overwhelming food labels we face every time we shop, and in every aisle. But don’t rule out picking produce from the middle aisles – the canned and frozen food aisles. In fact, these foods can save you time, money and storage space without compromising nutritional value.
Health Benefits of Plants
There are countless reasons why we need to be eating more fruits and vegetables. Whether it’s to reduce disease risk or to provide fiber, essential nutrients Americans are under-consuming (like potassium) and just pure deliciousness, fruits and veggies should be a daily part of your diet.
Besides fresh, produce is found throughout the store in a variety of other forms: frozen, canned and even dried. You would think that having a multitude of options to choose from would encourage us to pick plants at every meal. However, 81% of Americans aren’t getting enough fruits in their diet and 90% aren’t getting enough vegetables, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s What We Eat in America study.
