The Scoop: Our Frozen Farm Stand
Our Frozen Farm Stand
“Each moment of the year has its own beauty” -Ralph Waldo Emerson
Leaves changing color, cooler days, earlier nightfall, cozy blankets, fire pits...all sure signs that fall is upon us.
One other sure sign that the weather has changed is that the food we eat also changes. Farmers markets close down for the year, and our access to the fragrant tomatoes and plump strawberries of summer declines. Sure we can find fruits and veggies in the grocery stores, but they’ve generally come from afar and just aren’t the same. They certainly don’t taste the same and their nutritional properties have diminished as well.
We have a handy little illustration here about the nutritional aspects of fresh versus frozen, so today, we challenge you to think about the geographical aspect. In our Fresh Frozens section, we have green beans, blueberries, kale, and peas from New Jersey. It has been so nice to be able to guide our customers to these products and engage in conversations about how we are able to support local farmers in their traditional “low season”. Do you know where the plastic pack of green beans from your grocery store was grown? Or how long it had to travel to get to your store? Or what happens to the nutrients in that time? Answers: Very far away, ranging from days from California to weeks from China, and the nutrients degrade dramatically during the period from harvest to table. Typically, the produce that you find at your grocery store comes from areas where year-round farming is possible, but it is picked before it ripens so that it can ripen during transport, either in a cold room or with ethylene gas. Picking a food before it is ripe not only ensures that it’s not at it’s nutritional peak, but also that it will never truly reach it. (source)
The Pinwheel alternative is our Fresh Frozens: fruits and veggies that were frozen right on harvest to lock in and preserve their nutrients (once frozen, the produce retains its nutrients as long as it remains frozen.) Whenever possible, we source locally, and hope to increase the variety of local frozen produce as we grow.
During the fall and winter, we currently offer the following local produce and meats:
Blueberries from Blueberry Bill
Kale from Seabrook Farms
Peas from Dusty Lane Farms
Green beans from Coombs Farm
Turkey fillets from Koch’s Turkey Farm, and
Boneless Short Ribs from Liberty Delight Farms
We hope that you’ll join us in supporting local farms and farmers, even in the traditional off season. And don’t forget - unlike fresh produce, frozen products will not spoil; if maintained frozen, they can last almost indefinitely. See our FAQ section for more information on handling and usage.
We hope to see you soon at our “frozen farm stand”!