Are freeze dried foods good for you?
I keep hearing ‘better than fresh’ or ‘better than natural’ when it comes to freeze dried foods. After spending time researching it, I can’t find any solid evidence that this is true.
- More convenient… possibly. I don’t think having to re-hydrate my food saves time unless I’m throwing it in a soup in the slow cooker.
- Cheaper… I can’t answer that. I can’t put a price tag on fuel for my family’s bodies.
- Prep for emergency or hiking… makes perfect sense.
- Taste… Tried it. Just didn’t see that it tasted fresher and better.
- Organic/Gluten Free/Sugar Free… that seems harder to find than regular.
Lots of statements like ‘better than organic’ and ‘it is too expensive to certify organic’. Ummm…. no. That answer doesn’t cut it for me. Yes it is expensive to certify, but if you don’t pay, don’t tell me it is organic. I already am skeptical about organic standards not meeting what I want for my family. We aren’t trying to certify a product that is outside the states and selling it world wide when other companies scoff at the term organic. Germany’s food standards are higher than our organic standard. Try and find a Coke with corn syrup there… I dare ya. But I digress.
Another statement I hear is… but it is so hard to get fresh produce where I live. Really struggling with that one. I live on an island is Southeast Alaska. It is 2 hours by jet to the mainland. It takes them 3-4 days to barge food here. I can get good quality fresh organic produce. Yes, I do have to go to the grocery store on Monday when the shipment arrives. Yes, I have to plan meals based on what is in season and fresh. Yes, I sometimes have to change my meal plans because they don’t have what I want. But the reality is, I change my meal plans on the spot when I’m in the produce aisle and I see some amazing portabella mushrooms anyway. I chose to live here and I don’t think it is a big deal to pop into the produce department on a specific day of the week. We are daily green smoothie people so we go through a lot of of fresh organic produce.
So the short answer is, nope I’m not going to endorse freeze dried foods unless you are hiking or prepping for the Zombie Apocalypse. I’m sorry if you are a huge fan of them and this upsets you, but I’m a huge fan of caramel but that doesn’t mean it is good for me.
If you HAVE to have some freeze dried foods. Take a look at this chart which rates the different companies.
