01 Mar 5 benefits of consuming fruits and vegetables throughout the year
You may not be very aware of it, but the possibility that you can consume blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, blackberries and other fresh summer fruits, in winter, is due to important advances in growing practices, transport logistics and storage. All these advances together, allow you to access fresh fruit for almost 12 months of the year. And since few people know about this topic, today we want to talk to you about the 5 aspects that you did not know about the production of fruits and vegetables, which will probably change your attitude towards buying fruits and vegetables:
1. Access to fresh fruits and vegetables all year round
Human beings evolved to develop a digestive system that allowed them to consume and nourish themselves with a wide range of foods, from fruits and vegetables, to seeds, tubers, roots and meats of all kinds. The first hunter-gatherer communities subsisted on what they found in their environment, and if they did not find it, they moved and looked for other sources of food. Our lifestyle has changed a lot since then, doing less physical activity and eating foods that are normally higher in fat and carbohydrates that are difficult to assimilate. The possibility of consuming fresh fruits and vegetables throughout the year substantially improves the quality of life present through greater flexibility in the possibilities of healthy eating.
2. Nutrition and something else
Fruits and vegetables provide us with different types of nutrients (mainly vitamins, minerals and natural sugars), but also compounds that act in our body whose function goes beyond nutrition. For example, berries, and in particular blueberries, contain high concentrations of anthocyanins, compounds that reduce the rate of oxidation of cells and in some cases, reduce so-called bad cholesterol. The best example is the blueberry. The explosion of colors of the different types of fruit are a visual sign of the diversity of benefits that are hidden in the pigments of the fruits.
3. Reduction in the application of pesticides in the production of fruits and vegetables
The growing concern of the world population for the environment has led to global pressure to reduce greenhouse gases and the use of pesticides in agricultural production. Supermarkets, responding to this concern, demand cultivation practices from producers that aim to minimize the application of agrochemicals. For their part, the majority of agricultural producers, much more connected than the urban world to land, climate and water cycles, do their part to cooperate with this same objective. The gap between “traditional” crops and organic crops is increasingly narrowing.
4. By eating fruits and vegetables throughout the year, we contribute to the environment:
An important source of greenhouse gas emissions in agriculture is livestock production by emission of methane gas. The production of fruits and vegetables is considerably healthier in this regard as well as in terms of efficient use of water (drip irrigation technologies, micro-sprinklers and the like).
5. Connection with nature and the community
The production of fruits and vegetables around the world, generates a bond between those who work on the land with it, the same with the water sources and the climate. The constant observation of the evolution and forecast of the climate is a basic and instinctive behavior of the human being and in particular of the farmer. Rains, winds, frosts and other climatic phenomena are a language of permanent conversation between the farmer and nature. Fruit production also keeps the economy of rural communities active, the connection with the environment and their development, and reduces the rate of emigration of young generations to the cities.