Strawberries: Organic vs. Local

Strawberries: Organic vs. Local

There are 11 varieties of strawberries grown in Quebec from the beginning of June to mid-October. This is when I used to have my eye out for locally grown, organic strawberries. However, I have recently learned that strawberries have many natural pests and are susceptible to mildew, making it very difficult to grow them organically.


My husband did the grocery shopping this week and came home with three baskets of locally grown strawberries. He told me that the organic variety was three times the price of the locally grown and unsurprisingly came from California. It came down to the old organic vs. local dilemma.

First and foremost, I want to point out we are not perfect and do not suffer from obsessive-compulsive disorder. We're just trying to choose the best food available. But like every other working couple with two kids, we have very (berry?) busy lives and cannot spend our days grocery shopping for local, organic produce. It often comes down to choosing between local and organic.

This executive decision is made during the hour we spend grocery shopping. As strawberries are number 6 on the Environmental Working Group's dirty dozen, the fruit and veg with the highest pesticide levels, I opt for organic. To see the EWG's dirty dozen click here.

My husband is a greater proponent of buying local than I am, as it supports local farmers, reduces green house gas emissions and ensures fresher, tastier (he says) produce. As I have mentioned in a previous post, produce shipped from California is picked and shipped before it ever reaches peak ripeness or contains all its nutrients. It further loses these nutrients on the haul north. In addition, in last year's Green Guide, David Suzuki advocated buying local over organic.

However, because I have read about pesticides, which are carcinogenic and wreak havoc on children's developing neurological and reproductive systems, I tend to buy organic over local. Opting for local produce over organic is fine if you are an adult, but children are at greater risk because they cannot metabolize or inactivate toxins the way adults can. I opt for local if the fruit or veg is on the EWG's clean 15, a list of conventionally grown produce with the lowest pesticide levels.

But as in all couples, compromises have to be made, and in our organic vs. local debate, life eventually takes over. When you walk into a grocery store, you have to come out with something, or else chaos awaits you in the days ahead. I shop weekly for vegetables at a small organic shop, and between the two of us, we eat quite a mix of local and organic produce.

I must admit that this week I was won over by the locally grown strawberries. They were delicious! In addition, their baskets were made from number 1 plastic, which is both safe and recycled in our borough. This was as close as we could get to the perfect strawberry.

Food for thought: a geneticist's perfect strawberry

If you buy conventionally grown fresh strawberries from California throughout the winter, you may want to freeze your own locally grown berries after viewing this short video.Although it is being phased out, methyl bromide is the fumigant used to treat the soil on strawberry factory farms in California. It is a suspected carcinogen and has been responsible for numerous deaths.



NB: I have checked, and this fumigant is used much less in Canada.

After seeing the video, I have a much greater appreciation for the organic farmer.

Related Posts:

Meet the Clean 15 (Produce with lowest pesticide levels)
Evironmental Working Group Updates its Dirty Dozen (12 fruit and veg with the highest pesticide levels)
Buying Local: Vegetables Year Round

3 Simple Q&As about Children and Pesticides

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Eating Locally: Vegetables Year Round

Eating Locally: Vegetables Year Round

No surprise to anyone, fresh produce can be expensive for a good part of the year because of the sheer distance it travels before reaching our plates.

And we pay for it in more ways than one. Those avocados from Florida, cauliflower from California and kiwis from New Zealand use a lot of fossil fuels to be shipped and hauled to our dinner tables.

Eating locally is next to impossible in the winter unless you like root vegetables. In the past, my husband has repeatedly suggested frozen vegetables, but I have some pretty grim childhood memories of rubbery or mushy frozen peas and carrots.

However, once I learned that frozen produce had more nutrients than the fresh variety shipped here from warmer climates, I was willing to give it a try. Frozen produce is picked at peak ripeness when it has all its nutrients, whereas its California counterpart is picked and shipped before ever reaching that point. In addition, these veggies further lose their nutrients on their trip north.

I also learned that a Quebec engineer has dramatically improved the freezing process. Frozen vegetables are picked and frozen within a two-hour period. And more good news—-a lot of the veggies come from the Richelieu Valley, a 45-minute drive from Montreal, so we can still eat locally.

Obviously, all of this means nothing if the end product is tasteless. Well, much to my surprise, these frozen veggies exceeded my expectations. Not only was the taste better than the fresh variety available in the winter months, but the consistency was vegetable-like.

I found only two drawbacks. There was no organic line, and the re-sealable bag did not have a recycling symbol or number on it.

But an organic line may not be necessary after all.

According to David Suzuki’s Green Guide, in the interest of reducing green house gas emissions, we should choose local conventionally grown produce over the organically grown variety that is shipped over long distances. Remember, there are only 5 vegetables on the EWG`s Dirty Dozen, and we're not about to buy frozen lettuce, celery or kale.

As for sweet bell peppers, I buy a large basket of the local organic variety at the end of September, and cut and freeze them for the winter. I guess we can do the same with carrots.

It's now possible to eat a variety of local vegetables year round.

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