{"id":333,"date":"2011-08-18T05:00:00","date_gmt":"2011-08-18T09:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/eatwithjoy.wordpress.com\/?p=333"},"modified":"2011-08-18T05:00:00","modified_gmt":"2011-08-18T09:00:00","slug":"in-defense-of-frozen-food","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rachelmariestone\/2011\/08\/18\/in-defense-of-frozen-food\/","title":{"rendered":"In Defense of Frozen Food"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\u201cI can\u2019t eat local\u2013what would I possibly eat in January\u2013turnips?!\u201d<\/p>\n

Not necessarily. Because whether you grow your own food or purchase locally grown food, you can PRESERVE<\/a> some of it for winter! And it doesn\u2019t have to be complicated. You don\u2019t need any special skills or equipment, unless boiling water is beyond your skill-set and a colander isn\u2019t among your kitchen tools. And you know what? Many, many vegetables are BEST preserved by freezing rather than canning. (Think of the difference between frozen green beans and canned\u2013which is most like fresh?)<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

True, some of the flavor and texture is lost through the freezing process, which is why you will prepare your frozen veggies differently than you would if they were fresh. You might make a Caprese salad<\/a> with fresh tomatoes, like so:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
yum! look for the recipe on Sunday...<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

But you couldn\u2019t replicate that salad in winter by pulling out the frozen tomatoes. You could, however, put them into any number of delicious soups, stews, and sauces. And, as Barbara Kingsolver<\/a> points out, since they won\u2019t have traveled any distance in the meantime\u2013they\u2019ll still be local.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cBut what about VITAMINS? Aren\u2019t fresh vegetables healthier than and preferable to frozen ones?!\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Actually, very few vitamins are lost in the freezing process. Even commercially frozen foods can be nutritionally superior<\/a> to their fresh (but imported) counterparts, because food is frozen at the peak of freshness. By contrast, fresh vegetables transported long distances lose a marked amount of vitamins over the course of their trip from the field to your plate.<\/p>\n

And as to the question of environmental friendliness, I certainly feel better about buying US-grown frozen broccoli in December than buying broccoli that has been shipped FROM CHILE.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

To reiterate\u2013you don\u2019t necessarily have to grow your own. In fact, if you can find a local source for vegetables (and no matter where you live, you probably can), you may get a discount for purchasing a large amount in bulk. This helps the farmer and it helps you\u2013if you know how to preserve the food. For example, local farmstands where I live are currently charging about 70 cents per ear of corn. If you buy a bushel (about 40 ears) it costs $10.<\/p>\n

So what do you do with those hypothetical ears of corn? This method is the simplest and easiest and applies to many, many different vegetables:<\/p>\n

1. Dip prepared (ie, trimmed and cut) vegetables into boiling water for 3 minutes.<\/p>\n

2. Immediately dunk into COLD water and rinse to stop the cooking.<\/p>\n

3. Pat dry with clean kitchen towels and pack into freezer containers\/bags.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
I was given a vacuum sealer, but it's in storage in California. That's what I get for moving 5x in 8 years...so these are just plain ol' freezer bags.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

*UPDATE*<\/p>\n

Ellen asked whether I have a dedicated freezer. I do\u2013it\u2019s one we\u2019re borrowing from church, since they\u2019re not currently using it. If that one wasn\u2019t available, I\u2019d be shopping around for a second-hand freezer, for sure. They\u2019re quite energy-efficient (since they are opened only once in a while). Of course, space for a freezer is not always in great supply, especially if you live in an apartment (which I have done most of my adult life.) So this defense of frozen food may be somewhat unfairly biased toward home-dwellers. However, the basic point\u2013freezing food isn\u2019t hard!\u2013still stands.<\/p>\n

*END OF UPDATE*<\/p>\n

That\u2019s it! You can readily get more details in this book<\/a> or elsewhere <\/a>on the net. (UPDATE: lovely tutorial here.<\/a>) Or you can ask me! (Not that I\u2019ll know the answer, but I\u2019d be happy to hear about whatever preservation adventures you may be on\u2026)<\/p>\n

Oh, and some of my favorite winter recipes take frozen vegetables very well. You can see them here<\/a>!<\/p>\n

And the best part? When you\u2019ve frozen your own veggies in summer and fall (whether home grown or grown locally by someone else), you get a bit of a taste of the warmer months during the colder ones. And that\u2019s fun!<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cI can\u2019t eat local\u2013what would I possibly eat in January\u2013turnips?!\u201d Not necessarily. Because whether you grow your own food or purchase locally grown food, you can PRESERVE some of it for winter! And it doesn\u2019t have to be complicated. You don\u2019t need any special skills or equipment, unless boiling water is beyond your skill-set and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2070,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29,40,44,47,57,61,76,82,85],"tags":[2668,873,937,992,1002,1328,1442,1687,1848],"class_list":["post-333","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-creation-care","category-family","category-food","category-gardening","category-joy","category-local","category-preserving","category-seasons","category-summer","tag-creation-care","tag-family-2","tag-food-2","tag-frozen-food","tag-gardening-2","tag-joy-2","tag-local-2","tag-nutrition","tag-preserving-2"],"yoast_head":"\nIn Defense of Frozen Food<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\""I can't eat local--what would I possibly eat in January--turnips?!" Not necessarily. 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