Researchers from the Austrian Consumers Association confirm that vegetables picked and frozen when in season are actually higher in nutrients than those flown in out of season from abroad. So the vitamin content of frozen peas, beans, sweetcorn, carrots and cauliflower was significantly higher than fresh vegetables imported from Italy, Turkey, Spain and Israel. The British Nutrition Federation reinforces the message: “We recommend that people eat fruit and vegetables in season,” says their spokeswoman Sarah Stanner. “Fresh fruit and vegetables have higher vitamin C content, and they are also cheaper and more available. “Vitamins degrade over time and with storage, so the fresher the better. Also, if things have been in transit for a long time, vitamin C levels go down. And the longer the shelf life of produce, the more preservatives you have got to add to it.”

In Season for September