The Scoop: The Farm-to-Freezer Movement

The Farm-to-Freezer Movement

“I think if you buy from people who are taking care of the land, you're supporting the future of this country. “-Alice Waters, Founder of Chez Panisse and mother of the farm-to-table movement

Depending on where you live, it can be very difficult to buy from farmers these days. Kudos to the grocery stores that are featuring local produced, usually sourced from within 100 miles of the store. The downside to that is by the time we purchase it and use it, the nutritional quality has degraded, sometimes significantly. See our quick animation here for to see how.

Pinwheel Provisions is proud to partner with The Common Market as the distributor of some of our great local IQF produce. As its mission: “The Common Market is a nonprofit regional food distributor with a mission to connect communities with good food from sustainable family farms. We strive to improve food security, farm viability, and community and ecological health.” So, there’s the farm aspect!

The second aspect of this movement is the freezing. A key factor of IQF produce is that it is frozen at the harvest site, after cleaning and prepping. “The process of IQF relies on freezing the product extremely quickly. The process of ice crystallization takes place between 30 to 25º F or -1 to -4º C. IQF freezers freeze content extremely fast, bypassing this crucial zone as quickly as possible. By quickly freezing the product, the cells within the food are undamaged and preserved so that a higher quality result is acquired every time.” http://flash-freeze.net/flash-freezing/what-is-iqf.html

A farm cooperative + IQF technology is a winning combination for all parties! Hopefully, this information will help you understand why we at Pinwheel Provisions are excited about this “farm-to-freezer” movement we’re beginning here. Head over to our recipes for a few of our favorite ways to enjoy these delicious ingredients at your table!

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