Valkyrie Spring 2018 - Issue 3

Buying produce in season
Organic Foods
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Just a Fad?
What does buying produce “in season” mean?
Eating seasonally essentially means including certain
foods in your diet that are being grown and harvested
at the same time you are purchasing them. Ever notice
how some things just taste better in the summer or
the winter? The seasonal harvesting of produce is the
reason. The next time that you make your grocery
list, try and include fruits and vegetables that are in
season. Your body will thank you and so will your
wallet.
Produce harvested in season has more nutrients
and flavor than those grown out of season. For
example, apples grow well in the winter season. When
summer rolls around, you may notice that they lose
their crispness and become “mealy.” Fresh produce is
Pro tip:
Do not let frozen fruits or vegetables scare you away.
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Story By: Olivia Stevens
Design by: Grace Bailey
often better quality than that grown out of season
because they are being harvested in the environment
that encourages their best growth. Because it is easier
to grow produce in their correct season, the price
tag at the grocery store tends to drop. Distributors
pay less to transport the produce from farms to your
grocery store. In turn, cheaper, fresher produce tends
to increase the demand and encourages local farmers
to grow more of that food. More importantly, when
we support local farmers, we decrease our need to
import produce overseas. This ultimately means we
can expect less contaminants from traveling and less
chemicals and pesticides needed for the neccessities
of travel. In short, we get healthier produce for less
money while being more environmentally friendly
when we buy in season foods.
Organic foods have been on the rise; we can barely scroll
through Instagram without seeing some type of healthy,
organic recipe or individual praising their “so natural”
lifestyle and diet. What can we make of this trend of eating
green? Are organic foods really healthier for us, or is it all a
myth? It is true that the USDA stated that organic produce
proves to come at a heftier cost. How do we decide what is
actually better for us, and what justifies breaking the bank
for our health?
First, it is important to understand what “organic” means.
When we talk about organic foods, we are referring to the
processes in which that food has been grown and harvested.
You can check if a food is organic or not by looking for
the USDA Organic seal. That produce marked with the seal
Food for Thought
Buying completely organic is simply not an option for some.
There is controversy on what to buy and what not to buy
organic, but there are some foods that the majority agree
it is best to buy organic because of the pesticides used on
means that they are grown without pesticides, unnatural
fertilizers, genetically modified organisms (GMOs), and
radiation. Animal products that are labeled organic are not
given additional hormones or antibiotics. There is a catch,
however. Before busting out your wallet, it is important to
educate yourself on different labels that you will find at your
grocery store. The label “100% Organic” means exactly that,
all ingredients will be certified organic. The label “Organic”
means that at the very least, 95% of ingredients are certified.
“Made with Organic Ingredients” however means that 70%
of ingredients must be certified organic. Do not be confused
with labels saying “farm-raised” or “natural” because these
have not been government regulated.
the crops. This list include, but is not limited to: peanut
butter, popcorn, strawberries, spinach, apples, grapes, beef,
tomatoes, cucumbers and lettuce.
Multiple studies have proven that frozen bags of
berries, mangos, and broccoli test fairly equally for
the amount of nutrients they contain, specifically
fiber and iron concentrations. One particular study
conducted from the Department of Food Science and
Technology and Analytical Lab from the University
of California concluded that there were no significant
differences found comparing frozen and fresh produce’s
nutrition content. If you’re craving a mango smoothie,
or perhaps you want to stock up on some broccoli for
dinners, go ahead and buy the frozen bags.
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