The Scoop: Frozen is Cool
Frozen is Cool
With so much talk these days about “farm-to-table” and “fresh is best”, WHY would Pinwheel Provisions be so focused on frozen? No, we’re not yearning for the days of TV Dinners with Salisbury Steak and individual brownies (are we dating ourselves here?), honestly.
Turns out that scientists have known for a long time that frozen foods are just as healthy and sometimes healthier than fresh foods! According to this article from NPR, “when you freeze fruits and vegetables, it locks in nutrients, and several studies have shown that this helps retain high levels of vitamins. ‘You can store them in the freezer for a year and the nutrient level pretty much stays the same,’ says plant scientist Hazel MacTavish-West.” Watch our informational cartoon for some more knowledge on the science of freezing!
Now, this does not mean that when you buy your “fresh” veggies at the store then leave them in the fridge for a few days, you can stick them in your freezer and get those same amazing results. Why? Pay attention, farm-to-table lovers…
The frozen produce at Pinwheel Provisions is what we call “IQF”, which stands for Individually Quick Frozen. Sometimes referred to as flash-freezing, this method takes place at the harvest site, when the produce is sent through a blast chiller to freeze very quickly. Some veggies, like green beans, may be quickly blanched, but many get frozen raw at the time when they are most ripe and full of nutrients. No ripening rooms - or worse, gasses - while traveling across the country to your local grocery. No sitting on a shelf waiting for you to pick them up, and definitely no rotting away in the veggie drawer of your fridge because life got in the way and you were unable to use them. Doesn’t that just sound less stressful? From that same NPR article, the average American family throws away approximately $1500 in food a year! Frozen foods can last almost indefinitely, but we do have some storage and handling tips here for you. OK, so it’s not technically farm-to-table, but it’s definitely farm-to-freezer! Here’s a short, factual article for a bit more detail.
The “I” in IQF stands for individual. We’re all becoming a bit more familiar with the bulk aisles in our grocery stores. At Pinwheel Provisions, you’ll find a hybrid of the frozen food section and the bulk aisles. You’ll be able to scoop up individual pieces of all of our fruits and veggies, just as much frozen brown rice as you like (which will cook in about 5 minutes and not 45!) because the pieces are frozen individually. Get “Just What You Need” for dinner tonight or enough for your monthly meal planning.
Because of the “scoopability” of our Fresh Frozens, you can also do the planet a solid by bringing your own containers with you! We’ll have freezer-grade reusable plastic bags that you can purchase for a pittance, but feel free to bring those mason jars or Pyrex containers if you have them. That’s one less plastic bag in the refuse stream! Here’s how shopping at Pinwheel Provisions will work.
So, hopefully now you have a better understanding about why we think frozen is so cool. Please take a look around the site for even more information. We’ve got amazing videos illustrated by a local artist, as well as plenty of data-driven links about the science behind frozen food. Next up: more on that “farm-to-freezer” movement we’re starting! Subscribe below so you don’t miss out!