Written by Damola Thompson
03/09/2015
CAN you make your fruit and vegetables last for longer? Is it helpful?
Do you find that when you do your weekly shop for vegetables and fruit that it goes off after a week? Do you feel like you’ve wasted money buying fresh veg? Research suggests that that there is way to save money and stop binning the veg.
Boiling it in hot water and draining it with a sieve can preserve fruit and veg. Pour cold water over it immediately so it can stop the cooking, and let it dry and place in a freezer bag and store it in the freezer.
I went to Harlow to ask the people what they thought about this and if freezing veg will change their spending habits and how they store their fruit and veg.
I spoke to an elderly lady and it was interesting hearing her opinion on this, as it wasn’t what I was expecting. I asked her how much she spent on fruit and veg and she said about 500 pounds a month for the whole shop so I worked out a quarter or one third would go on fruit and veg alone. She then said that she doesn’t feel like she wastes money on her fruit and vegetables, as her intention is to buy fresh fruit and veg she wouldn’t want frozen veg when she fresh veg is easily accessible. She wouldn’t fancy having veg or fruit that is reheated. She also added that’s what a fridge is for funnily enough.
I also suggested to her that tomatoes can be frozen and can be used to make stews and soups but that didn’t appeal to her either. And she also stated she wouldn’t intend to make jam with strawberries either.
What did appeal to her was freezing herbs and spices as she would freeze them in the winter to make her stews and soups. She likes to make hearty English foods such as lentils, vegetables and stews. She did find my advice useful and said she will remember it.
So my question is freezing fruit and vegetables useful? Can it save you money? Yes it can but from my feedback fresh fruit and veg is still a need, whether it’s a trick from the supermarket to get us to keep spending who knows, but freezing your fruit can veg can still go a long way.
