Ways to ensure fresh vegetable supply in the city
Grow your own. It can be particularly helpful to grow prolific leafy greens (eg. dandelion, chicory, chickweed, kale, bok choi) – as we need a large amount of leafy greens in our diet and they are quite expensive to buy organically (many leafy greens are on the “dirty dozen” list of foods that are high in pesticide residues);
buy vegetables from the local farmer’s market;
find a good green grocer that stocks quality fresh vegetables. Be careful of buying bulk vegetables on special as often these are well past their best (if the green grocer smells of rotting vegetables, it is not a good place to shop);
wherever possible avoid vegetable shopping at the large supermarket chains as they tend to be more expensive for vegetables that are not as fresh as at a good green grocer;
buy vegetables that are in season locally, as this is one way of making sure that they are fresher (less far to travel to get to the store);
some vegetables are quite fine to buy frozen as they are snap frozen after picking, which locks in much of the nutritional value – especially green peas and corn. It can be very useful to have a supply in the freezer to boost your meals when you are running low on fresh vegetables;
organise a weekly vegetable set-box delivery from a local green grocer/delivery service. This can be an excellent way to ensure that you getting an adequate supply as well as ensuring variety in your diet. It can encourage you to learn how to prepare vegetables that you may not select yourself. As you have a set supply of vegetables, it also puts the pressure on to make sure you use them in your cooking to avoid waste. You can utilise meals such as vegetable soups or omelettes to use up the vegetables toward the end of the week before the next delivery;
organic vegetables and fruit have a better nutritional content and avoids exposure to the contamination from pesticides and other chemical toxins. In the cities, there is increasing access to cheaper organic vegetables. Some fruits and vegetables are more prone to contamination is the growing process, and there are the ones to prioritise getting organic (see “Inorganic contamination of commercially grown foods“)
