Canned vs frozen vs fresh vegetables.

Basically everything Wabbit05 said with this caveat: watch out for the sodium levels in the frozen veggies that come sauced or preseasoned.

^ I agree. Actually, it can also be the case that frozen vegetables have even more nutrients than fresh ones. They are being frozen right after they were picked whereas fresh veggies are sitting sometimes several days in the grocery store until you come and pick them up.

Good: Cans
Better: Frozen
Best: Fresh

^This. I use frozen a lot as I am also on a budget and try to stay away from all the sodium (and taste) of the canned veggies.

I buy canned with no salt. I think I may try some frozen though...there are a lot of veg I would like to try that my kids won't touch...so buying fresh I would probably not get it all eaten before it spoils.. I will put some frozen veg on the grocery list

Ditto Wabbit, but in some cases, frozen can be even better than fresh. I know peas for one just can't take the transport time to be best fresh - unless you're getting them out of your own garden, I suppose.

Frozen does have some small cellular damage, but it's not that bad.

For the most part, I prefer fresh produce when it is in season. I don't have any problem eating frozen or canned veggies though. I eat canned beans rather than dried because its so much easier. I frequently use canned tomatoes because it can be hard to find good tomatoes in the store. When I'm making soup I often used frozen spinach or corn. I like frozen soybeans in my stir fries. I love french cut canned green beans. Frozen veggies will have a lot less salt and preservatives than canned vegetables.

The canned stuff will have a lot of salt unless it says no salt added. I don't think there's anything wrong nutritionally with those veggies though.

Fresh isn't always more nutritious than frozen although that's usually the impression. Most frozen foods are flash frozen within hours of picking so unless you're getting veggies fresh from your garden they're probably older "fresh" than frozen. If you buy fresh vegetables at a supermarket they were probably picked a week ago and have been processed and bounced around on a truck and loading docks for days.

An example: A local farm grows broccoli for a large supermarket chain. They harvest, bring it into the barn, it's cleaned up, boxed, iced and put into cold storage. It ships out to stores, oldest stuff first. If they can't get rid of it fast enough then it's shipped to a major food terminal where it will be purchased by smaller stores and shipped again. In the winter, they bring broccoli by truck from California to Ontario, Canada, re ice it and then move it on to stores. Not really very fresh!

To me, canned vegetables are worthless. We buy canned beans to have on hand in case of emergency or laziness; that's about it.

Fresh and frozen are pretty equal, unless fresh means eaten the same day as picked, which obviously would be the ideal choice.

I know that fresh vegetables are always going to be better for you, but how bad are canned and frozen vegetables? I realize that canned vegetables are higher in sodium but I feel that rinsing them would help a bit with that. Frozen vegetables are also cheaper than fresh, but I just feel like those might have even more chemicals in them to keep the frozen and "fresh".

Canned and frozen vegetables are so much cheaper, and being on a budget, I was wondering if canned or frozen vegetables would be better then eating no vegetables.

**Also for fruits too.

Actually, since frozen are usually processed soon after harvesting, they are likely to be your best nutritional "bang for the buck". Fresh right out of the garden are obviously superior both from a nutritional and taste standpoint BUT the "fresh" at the grocery store may not even retain as many nutrients as the frozen variety. Canned are okay but they often have a high sodium content and also, the can lining can "leach" into the food (can linings are plastic and there is some concern over the hormonal disruption that occurs when we take in compounds used to make the plastic). The same conditions apply to fruits.

Always Fresh - I'd rather save $ riding the public bus than eat a canned pea!

Fresh vegetables are almost always superior in quality to frozen (better texture, more versatile, and more flavorful), and I wouldn't bother eating frozen vegetables on their own. However, they are some that are nice to have on hand to toss into things (e.g. frozen peas for aloo mutter or spinach for a frittata). I like to have peas, corn, spinach, and edamame on hand for those purposes. Frozen vegetables are more expensive but they say they actually have more nutrition than fresh because they're frozen right after they're picked.

I sometimes keep frozen fruit on hand for smoothies but it's ridiculously expensive and there's not much else you can do with it.

The only canned vegetables I'll bother with are tomatoes. Everything else is too salty and mushy to cook with.

^ I agree. Actually, it can also be the case that frozen vegetables have even more nutrients than fresh ones. They are being frozen right after they were picked whereas fresh veggies are sitting sometimes several days in the grocery store until you come and pick them up.

This. I buy fresh when I can, but also you should try to know where your food is coming from. I buy fresh a lot more often in the summertime when it's likely local and I can visit the farmer's markets. Otherwise I'm constantly stocking up on frozen veggies when they go on sale at the grocery. You should see my freezer, I probably have at least 10 bags in there.

I will tell you exactly what the nutritionist I had a consultation with told me. The best vegetables most people have access to are frozen. The "fresh" vegetables you see in the grocery store were probably shipped from thousands of miles away. During that time, they lost most of their nutritional value. The best vegetables are the ones you pick from the ground and eat or get at a farmer's market that sells freshly harvested local produce. Frozen vegetables are frozen while they are fresh and the freezing process locks in that nutritional value. According to the nutritionist, here's the order of preference:

1). Freshly harvested, local, organic, farmer's market vegetables.
2). Frozen vegetables.
3). Grocery store "fresh" vegetables.
4). Canned vegetables.

It may seem counter-intuitive at first, but it actually makes perfect sense when you think about it.

^ I agree. Actually, it can also be the case that frozen vegetables have even more nutrients than fresh ones. They are being frozen right after they were picked whereas fresh veggies are sitting sometimes several days in the grocery store until you come and pick them up.

This. I buy fresh when I can, but also you should try to know where your food is coming from. I buy fresh a lot more often in the summertime when it's likely local and I can visit the farmer's markets. Otherwise I'm constantly stocking up on frozen veggies when they go on sale at the grocery. You should see my freezer, I probably have at least 10 bags in there.

word. my freezer is mostly frozen veg, some meatless products and 3 bottles of liquor