Which are the Best Fresh, Frozen or Canned Vegetables?
February 25, 2021 by Kristy
Haha so my kids are pretty much snobs when it comes to fruits and vegetables. We went on a quick trip to go see a play in a town about 3 hours from where we live. We decided to book a room on Airbnb so we could watch the play and then not have to worry about a 3 hour drive late at night on deer packed curvy highways. We ate dinner at a restaurant before the play. The food was really yummy but when our plates arrived to our table with canned green beans both of my kids turned their noses up to the green beans.
My kids have learned to have a love for almost all fruits and vegetables. They definitely eat a lot more fruits and vegetables then what I ever did. Our “diet rule” that James and I try to live by is 80% plants, 20% everything else. So my kids really do eat about 80% plants. I am not used to them refusing vegetables.
Bryken tried a bite of the green beans and he gagged and swallowed. He at least tried them. Gwen refused. In general, Green Beans are not my family’s favorite vegetable. Green beans have a lot of health benefits including, reducing your risk of heart disease, controlling diabetes, boosting your immune system and benefits to your bones and eyes as well as some additional awesome things. I feel like green beans are on the same level as corn. As far as canned vegetables in my house we have green beans or corn. That is it, every other vegetable we eat and buy is preferably fresh. Or frozen if I didn’t plan right.
I think I have created little monsters that think that if a vegetable is canned it is no good.
Are canned vegetables healthy? I think in my mind it has always been fresh is best, frozen is good and canned is worst case scenario. Over at Consumer Affairs an article states, “According to a number of studies, fresh vegetables lose about half of their vitamins in just a matter of days after being harvested, if not properly chilled or sustained. And even after you refrigerate the veggies they still lose at least 50 percent of their nutritional value in about a week’s time.” The article went on to say, “The good news, according to Amy Jamieson-Petonic, a registered dietician and spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics based in Cleveland, is that there is actually very little difference between fresh, canned or frozen vegetables, so consumers shouldn’t blindly plunk down extra money for fresh produce.”
I find this quote in this article funny, “Experts also say that buying fresh produce should be more for those consumers who routinely eat their vegetables, or already have a meal plan put together that incorporates them.”
As Americans do we think that we don’t routinely need to eat vegetables? I guess the bottom line for my snobby family is that we eat fresh vegetables because we can’t get the variety of vegetables that we eat, as easily canned as we can fresh or frozen. I have never seen canned broccoli or green onions. I am going to continue with my belief that fresh is best, frozen is good and canned is worst case scenario!
Cited Sources:
https://www.organicfacts.net/health-benefits/vegetable/green-beans.html
https://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2012/09/fresh-frozen-and-canned-vegetables-is-there-really-a-difference-in-nutrient-levels.html
