Remember the strange ritual performed by your parents to select the perfect fruits and vegetables at the shops? It was a seemingly bizarre ceremony of sniffing berries, softly squeezing peaches, pressing their fingernails gently into a pumpkin’s skin, and giving an apple a good old shine test. And as you’ve come to buy your own, you’ve probably been following the same time-tested techniques. But with less than 5% of Australian adults meeting the fruit and veg intake recommendations, it’s time to get better at buying more of it!

Picking the perfect produce, however, can be a real guessing game, especially in large supermarkets where prioritising convenience often comes at a cost. That’s where buying from smaller local providers usually comes up trumps. In this blog, we explore the benefits of choosing local produce and share five tips for picking (and storing) produce like a pro.

The big benefits of buying local

From flavour and food miles to supporting locals and eating seasonally, purchasing your produce from local suppliers offers plenty of benefits. Here’s how you’ll notice a difference:

• Save the planet, one local apple at a time. Much of what we see in the fruit and veg section of the supermarket has travelled hundreds of kilometres and crossed international borders, racking up plenty of food miles by the time it lands on the shelves. Buying locally grown produce is much better for the environment – less transport requirements equal huge fossil fuel savings.
• It’s fresher and tastier. Did you know those apples you bought from the supermarket could have been treated with synthetic gas and cool-stored for up to a year? That certainly doesn’t scream fresh and tasty. Locally grown produce is very likely to be available to you much sooner after they’ve been picked and is less likely to be treated with life-extending additives.
• By buying locally, you support local farmers and their businesses. These small businesses are often no match for mega supermarket chains equipped with resources and funding to ride out a tough economic climate, which means your dollar helps keep smaller producers afloat. And the money you spend goes back into your local community.
• It encourages you to eat seasonally. We’ve become accustomed to seeing produce like tomatoes, avocados and berries lining the supermarket shelves year-round, and many of us are out of touch with what is actually in season. At your local farmers market, you’re unlikely to find dragon fruit and mango in the middle of winter, but you will find the current seasons very best. Getting in tune with seasonal produce not only means it’s fresher, but it’s often much more affordable and encourages you to switch up your regular produce rotation, too.

Now that the benefits of buying local produce are clear, it’s time to learn how to pick (and store) your produce like a pro! Here are our top five tips:

1. Give your produce a visual once-over

Not only is damaged, blemished or bruised produce likely to be less nutritious and delicious, but any spots where the exterior of the produce is pierced can also invite harmful bacteria to flourish. Damaged spots also encourage mould, which, if unnoticed and popped in your fruit bowl, can quickly spread to neighbouring produce, spoiling the lot. Pay careful attention to the stems of broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage and lettuce, as these can harbour rot.

2. Get your other senses in on the task

Visible blemishes aside, look for vibrant, crisp green vegetables (soft and yellowing should ring alarm bells), plump mushrooms and firm, bright carrots. Fruit should also be vibrant and also needs to hold up to the squish test. Most fruits should be firm but not hard and steer clear of soft or mushy. Finally, engage your olfactory nerves – your sense of smell – especially for things like stone fruits, melons and pineapples. Choose sweet, fragrant fruits for optimal ripeness and avoid fermented or bitter aromas (unless it’s durian!)

3. Learn from the produce pros
Speaking to your local farmer or seller at the markets is a great way to hone your expertise as a produce connoisseur. As experts in the picking field, they’re sure to have plenty of insider tips and tricks to share for picking the perfect produce. You’ll also gain insight into how and when the produce was grown and harvested so you can choose the freshest and most organic produce available.

 4. Arm yourself with a plan

Rather than strolling your farmers market or local produce shop and selecting fruit and veg on a whim, equip yourself with a list for the very best results. This is key for reducing environmentally damaging and expensive food waste – the average Australian wastes an astronomical 312kg of food annually. Creating a weekly menu plan will help you with time and cost-saving meal prep and inject seasonal variety into your diet. It’s time to say goodbye to wilted celery rattling around the bottom of the veggie drawer!

5. Store to score
Once you’ve picked your produce like a pro, you want to look after it and keep it as fresh as possible until you consume it. As a rule of thumb, fruit can be kept on the bench or a fruit bowl until it ripens (just watch out for the gaseous bananas) and then transferred to the fridge to slow the ripening process. Different vegetables prefer different conditions; some will do well in airtight containers, others survive in a crisper drawer, while root vegetables are right at home in a cool, dark cupboard. It pays to research the best storage methods and stick to them as much as possible.

Better produce is better for everyone!

Becoming a pro at picking produce has so many benefits – not only for your health and enjoyment but also for your local community and the environment around you. You might also find that heading to your local farmers market or a new produce shopping spot is an enjoyable experience, turning a usually mundane chore into an outing you look forward to. If you fall in love with a new neighbourhood by venturing out to local farmers markets, reach out to First National Real Estate. Your local property expert will guide you through the entire process of finding your key to happiness!

DISCLAIMER
The following advice is of a general nature only and intended as a broad guide. The advice should not be regarded as legal, financial, or real estate advice. You should make your own inquiries and obtain independent professional advice tailored to your specific circumstances before making any legal, financial, or real estate decisions. Click here for full Terms of Use.