I agree with you, there are advantages and disadvantages in both frozen and “fresh non-local” foods, so a switching it up is a good idea. That was pretty much my conclusion on my blog too. But I have to say, most frozen veggies taste like c&$p. hahaha

Different vegetables are blanched in different ways to minimize nutrient loss. For example, corn may be blanched using steam, but cabbage is not because it would lose all of its vitamin C. You are right, though, some vitamins are lose during blanching.

I think we all need to eat a variety of fruits and vegetables, and that we can eat a mix of frozen and fresh if we are not lucky enough to live in an area that has great local produce year-round.

Did you find any good sources on how long between the harvest and the freezing of vegetables? Based on the numbers of a study it looked like the frozen veggies also got shipped around first.

It also depends on the vegetable and on the nutrient. Vitamin C for example is sometimes even lower in frozen produce than in “fresh but not local”. The vegetables still respire a little bit even when in the freezer, so it also depend how old the frozen product is (don’t keep it in there for months…) Also, a lot of times veggies are blanched before they get frozen, and that causes some nutrient loss as well….

This post was so interesting! I still love my farmer’s market, though! Good thing I refrigerate my produce, too!

I know, I used to be a bit hesitant about frozen produce because I didn’t know if it would be as good, but it is good to know that it is just as (or more) nutritious as fresh!