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Spring Produce Guides to Help You Navigate the Grocery Store This Season

April 5, 2016 by

Every spring there’s an abundance of fresh seasonal fruits and vegetables that make their way into your local grocery store. It’s tempting to fill your cart with tasty produce, but these things go bad so quickly that it helps to have a plan in mind when you shop. Here are two online guides to spring produce.

Food and Wine
This beautifully curated guide offers creative recipes that all use spring produce. It’s organized by type of fruits and vegetables, with recipe sections for things like asparagus, spinach, mangoes, and pineapple. Each recipe also uses simple, step-by-step instructions and high quality images that help you to visualize each dish. If you want to prepare elegant, healthy meals with seasonal ingredients, Food and Wine is a great resource.

The Food Network
The Food Network is an authority on all-things cooking, and their Spring Produce Guide is one of the most helpful out there. It utilizes photos, videos, and text recipes to deliver everyday recipes that use spring produce, and many of them come straight from your favorite Food Network hosts. There are also tips and tricks for things like choosing the best fruits and vegetables, washing and preparing them for cooking, and cooking with fresh herbs straight from the garden.

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How to Identify the Freshest Fruit at the Supermarket

April 17, 2015 by

Fresh, ripe fruit plays an important part in any healthy diet, but it can be frustrating when your juicy apples get brown and bruised just days after purchasing them. If you'd like to select the ripest, freshest produce at the grocery store, check out these four tips!

  1. Feel the weight. Fruits like melons, oranges, and lemons feel heavier when they’re ripe with juice, so pick them up before choosing which ones to buy. The fruit should feel heavy for its size if it’s truly ripe.
  2. Test the texture. The above fruit should also feel firm to the touch, but not so firm that they feel dry and hard inside. Give them a gentle squeeze to check for bruising, as well.
  3. Use your sense of smell. Fruits like berries, grapes, and nectarines begin to smell sour or rotten when they’re past their prime, so be sure to give them a good whiff before purchasing. Most fruits will give off a light, sweet scent when they’re ready to consume.
  4. Inspect the whole surface. If all else fails, use your best judgment by simply inspecting the fruit. Turn over a melon or apple to check for bruising or discoloration, take a quick peek through a bag of grapes or oranges to see if any are mushy or rotten, and consider the color of the fruit’s skin, as this can often tell if it is too ripe.

How to Select Fresh, Ripe Produce [Lifehacker]
How to Pick Fruits & Veggies [Good Housekeeping]
Raw Produce: Selecting and Serving it Safely [FDA]
Choosing Fresh Fruits and Vegetables [Family Circle]

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Why Shop Local?

December 13, 2012 by

You’ve probably noticed the big push toward buying local, especially when it comes to your food. If you’re wondering why “local” is so popular, or are interested in joining this movement, check out this list of reasons why local is truly great for all involved:

It supports the community – Buying locally grown and locally produced goods is a great way to support the economy in your town or community.

You know where it comes from – When you purchase your food in a grocery store, you have no connection to its roots. When you buy local, you get to know the farmer, bee keeper, or baker who is responsible for your edibles.

It’s “green” – Purchasing your food locally cuts down on transportation. Often, food travels thousands of miles to the grocery store, which means tons of pollution. Buying local eliminates that because you go straight to the source.

It’s more nutritious – Studies show that the fresher your food, the more nutrients it contains. Instead of eating week-old (or weeks-old) produce from the grocery store, get fresh picked delights at the local market – it’s better for your health!

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