Variety = nutritional spice
Some estimates suggest that half of the food items in your local grocery store are produced by no more than
10 multinational food and beverage corporations. As a nutrient consumer, this is a concern because different
varieties of vegetables and fruits provide a range of phytochemical, vitamin and mineral content.

Large corporations determine which foods to produce not for their nutritional quality, but instead for their yield (how much can be harvested) and ability to withstand the rigours of long-distance travel. Flavour and the nutrient value of produce often suffer as a result.

On the other hand, your local farmer doesn’t have to be concerned about his produce surviving for days in the cargo hold of a jet or the back of a truck, and is able to choose varietals for flavour and nutritional quality. In small communities, farmers grow produce to please the palate. Follow the lead of local chefs who shop local farmers’ markets for the best tasting produce
to serve their patrons. Chefs choose flavour-full, local produce over well-traveled food.

Ripe for the picking
Certain fruits are suitable for long-distance travel because they can be picked before they mature, and ripen to full colour en route to the dinner table – though some nutrients are left behind. These ‘climacteric’ crops include: apples, apricots, nectarines, melons, peaches and tomatoes. Others like bell peppers only mature while still attached to the plant. Because non-climacteric crops must remain on the plant to mature, they can’t travel as far before decay sets in.

Whether or not a plant is climacteric, food ripened on the plant has higher nutritional quality than food ripened in a truck. For example, Vitamin C is much higher in plant-ripened produce, especially tomatoes. As tomatoes are a nutritional staple in Canada, be sure to eat vine-ripened, local produce.