fruits & veggies: fresh vs. canned

[cootie]

I know that fresh produce is ideal, and superior to canned in taste and nutrition, but it is getting harder for us to afford fresh fruits and veggies.

 

My question is, would it be harmful to our health to eat at least half canned fruits and veggies, if not more, in our daily diets? Canned foods are more affordable, and our budget is getting tighter as the months go by. I am worried about our health if I cannot afford to feed my family fresh produce as opposed to canned. I thought of vitamin supplements, but even those are getting too expensive for us to afford as well.

 

If anyone could please give their advice and experience with this issue, I would greatly appreciate it.

 

Thanks.

[Frugal Cook]

Personally I prefer frozen over canned myself. They taste better and at least the green beans don't have that sickly pallor to them and are still crunchy.

 

Frozen (especially the WM brand) are pretty inexpensive

[Stephanie]

I found this article that addresses this question....

 

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Frozen foods vs. fresh or canned; Fresh foods vs. frozen or canned

Information

Many people wonder if frozen and canned vegetables are as nutritious as fresh vegetables. The answer to this question depends on both the time between the harvesting of the vegetable and the canning and freezing process. Generally, vegetables are canned or frozen immediately upon harvest when their nutrient content is at its peak.

 

The way vegetables are prepared at home can also affect the nutrient content. Vegetables of any type (fresh, frozen, or canned) that are boiled in large amounts of water for long periods of time lose much of their nutritional content comparedwith vegetables that are lightly steamed.

 

Vegetables fresh from the farm or just picked are more nutritious than their frozen or canned counterparts, butfrozen and canned vegetables are an acceptable nutritional alternative. Just be mindful of the amount of salt added to canned vegetables; try to buy those without added salt. And, don't overcook any vegetables.

 

http://adam.about.com/encyclopedia/Foods-f...n-or-canned.htm

[Carmen]

Also rinse the canned veggies before use, it gets rid of a lot of the sodium and preservatives. I believe I read somewhere that the nutritional content was almost the same..and sometimes even better in canned/frozen, b/c it can take so long for fresh veggies to get to your grocery store. So they could be older than what was canned/frozen.

[bibliomane]

Frozen vegetables are usually just blanched and frozen and do not have anywhere near as much salt as canned. I usually buy the more inexpensive brands of frozen food and the price is usually as good as canned (if canned isn't on sale.)

[Stephanie]

The thing is, that the frozen vegies wouldn't do well in a power outage. So, many here on the board opt for dehydrating or home canning or even purchased cans.

 

[bibliomane]

Not all emergencies have power outages, and sometimes you can get around those. I like being prepared for both types. We have a whole house sized generator. It is about 40 years old, so it wouldn't run the air and everything else, but it kept my deep freeze, lights, etc. going for close to a week druing Katraina. I didn't loose anything frozen.

 

Mom even has a solar cell on her generator. I'm looking into getting one.

[Stephanie]

Don't get me wrong biblio, I love my freezer and think it's the easiest way in the world to preserve food. I was just throwing out a thought. I try to cover all bases and have some of it all. But, in a extended or permanent power loss, my freezer would have to be dealt with and food preserved in a different manner.

 

That's great about your generator, we have one, but have thankfully never had to use it.

[nmchick]

Sorry, not sure where we are in this thread, but I wanted to mention that many commercially canned foods are frozen before they are canned. One of our friends has worked in a canning factory for decades. There is a big building on the factory site now that holds frozen ingredients, waiting to be canned. Used to be they all had to work long shifts during "pack", i.e., tomato season, etc., because the produce was all fresh.

 

BTW, he *always* boils commercially canned foods before eating them.

[DenimDaze]

Originally Posted By: nmchick

BTW, he *always* boils commercially canned foods before eating them.

Why? Is this something just he does? or is it another thing I should know about?

My kids consider canned fruit a 'treat'. Does he boil that too?

[nmchick]

NYDebbie, I think this sweet, kind, careful man knows first hand that things don't always go as they are supposed to at the factory, or any job for that matter. If you ever worked fast food as a teenager, you know that's the case.

 

And he doesn't boil fruit, but that's because he won't eat fruit, of any kind I've seen. But fruit's high acid anyway. I don't worry about eating it straight from a can.

[nmchick]

NYDebbie, I think this sweet, kind, careful man knows first hand that things don't always go as they are supposed to at the factory, or any job for that matter. If you ever worked fast food as a teenager, you know that's the case.

 

And he doesn't boil fruit, but that's because he won't eat fruit, of any kind I've seen. But fruit's high acid anyway. I don't worry about eating it straight from a can.