The Benefits Using Fresh Food and Ingredients

Organic food production is available in nearly 75% of grocery stores. This allows you the opportunity to embrace cooking with fresh ingredients.

There’s nothing worse than taking a bite of your homemade meal, only to find that the taste and texture aren’t delicious. Not only can this ruin your appetite, but you’ve wasted money on bad ingredients.

Instead, buying fresh food and ingredients for your meals can elevate your lunches and dinners.

If you’re unsure why you should skip canned and processed food, keep reading. You’ll learn about the benefits of investing in fresh ingredients and food for your kitchen.

Better Taste

It’s no secret that fresh ingredients are packed full of flavor.

Though it may be more convenient to heat up a ready-made, frozen chicken parm, it won’t taste nearly as good as using fresh ingredients ad cooking it yourself. Food sitting in the freezer can form crystals and reduce the taste of the ingredients.

The chicken will be much more tender and moist, the breeding won’t be soggy, and the tomato sauce will have actual flavor instead of just being a thick red paste. Taking the time to cook with fresh ingredients can help you enjoy the food you make.

Many processed foods come packed full of sodium and other chemicals. This enhances the taste to increase the flavor and preserve the food when it’s tinned or frozen.

Environmentally Friendly

Whether your diet is keto, vegan, pescatarian, or gluten-free, you can support the environment by cooking with fresh ingredients.

When you buy local ingredients, you’re contributing to waste. For example, purchasing canned or bagged corn creates unnecessary waste. While the metal can be recycled it still wastes resources to produce the can.

However, buying an ear of corn and cooking it yourself creates virtually no waste, as the husk is a natural packaging. This helps keep the environment free from necessary trash.

For example, corn husk, watermelon rinds, and carrot tops, all things removed during the processing procedure, are biodegradable, meaning you won’t feel guilty throwing them out or in your compost.

Plus, when you buy fresh ingredients, they’re often delivered by local farms on the same day. This cuts out the need for long-term transportation of processed foods from across the country. This, in turn, reduces carbon emissions caused by transport.

Improved Nutritional Value

As previously mentioned, there are additives and preservatives added to frozen and canned foods to help ensure that they still taste good. The process of canning fruits and vegetables often strips some of the nutritional value from foods.

One of the best ways to improve your diet is to indulge in fresh fruits and vegetables. Not only do they taste better, but you’ll enjoy the additional vitamins and minerals that may be decreased during processing.

Eating various fresh fruits, vegetables, and meats, can improve your diet by ensuring you get all the food groups and reap the fresh food benefits.

More Affordable

There’s a common misconception that processed foods are cheaper than fresh ingredients. While you can buy mass-produced food for less, you can get plenty of high-quality, fresh ingredients in bulk for a more affordable price.

Fruits, vegetables, grains, and other products can be more affordable when you buy in bulk. They’ll last longer, and you can incorporate them into more meals, whereas frozen foods are forced into one meal only.

Better Quality

Is there anything worse than trying to prep vegetables that have the consistency of mush? Not only is this frustrating, but it also makes your food less appetizing. After all, a wilted salad might taste okay, but it won’t be nearly as refreshing or enjoyable.

This is one of the most noticeable differences between fresh vs. frozen food, as the texture and quality are compromised.

When you buy fresh ingredients, they’re much better quality than frozen or canned vegetables. Your vegetables will be nice and crisp, your fruit will be sweet, and your meat will be tender and moist.

Less Food Waste

When you buy canned or frozen produce, you may find that you’re buying more than you need. This leads to leftovers sitting in your fridge before inevitably getting thrown out after a week.

However, when you buy fresh vegetables, you can choose what you need for each meal, ensuring you don’t use more than what the recipe calls for. Keeping food fresh is easier when it hasn’t been picked and preserved weeks ago.

Another way to reduce food waste is to use AthleticsFit (Healthy meal delivery service), which delivers the perfect amount of fresh ingredients right to your door, eliminating the need for prepping and reducing the number of leftovers that go to waste.

Support Local Farmers

Finally, one of the best ways to support your local, small farmers and help stimulate your community’s economy is to buy fresh ingredients.

When you purchase mass-produced food, you’re supporting big corporations. These companies often exploit their workers and the land they harvest. Instead, buying ingredients right from the source can help you get better quality and support farmers who take pride in their work.

Many grocery stores will provide information about where they get their fresh produce from, allowing you to purchase from local farms. Similarly, you can find farmers at weekly markets or you can go directly to the farm, as many will have stands set up selling produce.

Embrace Fresh Food and Ingredients

Though it might be faster to throw frozen lasagna in the oven or use canned fruit in your recipes, taking the time to use fresh components will elevate your dish, making your meals more enjoyable.

If your mouth is watering thinking about how many delicious meals you can make with fresh food and ingredients, you’ll want to check out the rest of our website. There, you can find more amazing food tips and tricks.