image by: HWN

HWN Suggests

Making the Case for Eating Fruit

Experts agree that we are eating too much sugar, which is contributing to obesity and other health problems. But in the rush to avoid sugar, many low-carb dieters and others are avoiding fruits. But fresh fruit should not become a casualty in the sugar wars, many nutrition experts say.

Dr. David Ludwig, the director of the New Balance Foundation Obesity Prevention Center at Boston Children’s Hospital, said that sugar consumed in fruit is not linked to any adverse health effects, no matter how much you eat. In a recent perspective piece in The Journal of the American Medical Association, he cited observational studies that showed that increased fruit consumption is tied to lower body…

read full article

Featured

  EWG's Dirty Dozen List

You can lower your pesticide intake by avoiding the 12 most contaminated fruits and vegetables and choosing the least contaminated produce.

 Fruits You Probably Haven’t Heard of—but Might Soon

Will baobab, breadfruit, monk fruit and jackfruit take off in the U.S. like kale and quinoa? These entrepreneurs hope so.

 Most of America’s Fruit Is Now Imported. Is That a Bad Thing?

Imports have increased steadily for decades, but the extent of the change may be surprising: More than half of the fresh fruit and almost a third of the fresh vegetables Americans buy now come from other countries.

Articles of Interest

All About the Fruit Group

Any fruit or 100% fruit juice counts as part of the Fruit Group. Fruits may be fresh, canned, frozen, or dried, and may be whole, cut-up, or pureed.

Americans Like Fruits More Than Veggies, But We Aren't Eating Much Of Either, Says New CDC Report

The hope is that these statistics can inform more effective state-based health outreach efforts, and nudge the needle upward across every category.

Benefits of Fruits and Vegetables

Eating a diet with plenty of fruits and vegetables has been linked to improved health, and for good reason. Veggies and fruits (both fresh and frozen) are loaded with vitamins, minerals, fiber, and antioxidants, which have been shown to protect against chronic diseases such as heart disease and cancer. They are also low in calories, making them a great choice for your waistline.

Beyond Bananas: Explore Delicious, Healthy Tropical Fruits

Eat your fruits and vegetables is not just something Grandma tells you to do. Eating five to nine servings a day is something doctors and nutritionists say can reduce your risk of health problems like obesity, diabetes, and heart disease. Fruits in particular, contain fiber, antioxidants, and micronutrients like folate and Vitamin K that are not found in other foods. And fruits grown in tropical regions tend to be particularly high in nutrients, while growing in seemingly infinite varieties of flavor and color: Did you know one medium papaya gives you 224 percent of your daily Vitamin C needs? And a guava can supply more than 600 percent.

Chemical-Free Fruit Washing

While I, of course, object to the label “chemical-free”, I am still favorable towards “expensive and unnecessary cleaning product-free” approaches. In fact, the use of vinegar and baking soda in place of cleaning agents is to be commended, and it would be a great opportunity to educate people about everyday chemistry. (Plus, it doesn’t contain triclosan and triclocarban, so it’s at least free of two very common cleaning product chemicals.

Don’t Worry So Much About Whether Your Food Is ‘Processed’

As long as people are eating fruits and vegetables, it’s not that important whether they’re fresh, frozen, or canned.

Eating Fresh Fruits and Veggies Is Easy When They’re Relatively Cheap

In the fresh versus processed food wars, fresh fruits and vegetables are winning, thanks in part to their relatively cheap price tags.

Food Deserts Aren’t the Problem

Getting fresh fruits and vegetables into low-income neighborhoods doesn’t make poor people healthier.

Fruit, Veggies and How to Depict The Universe

Do you prefer fruits or vegetables? A questionnaire that allows only one of those two answers is a crude way of getting information about your eating preferences. Fortunately, mathematics offers a number of tools for analyzing and understanding the more nuanced reality of the situation. Math’s complex symbols and operations are interesting for their own sake but also, as Hamlet would say, because they let us hold “the mirror up to nature.”

Health Check: what’s better for you, fresh, dried or frozen fruit?

Freezing generally is a good way to preserve nutrients compared to other methods like canning and refrigeration. This is mainly linked to the relatively short period of heat treatment used to blanch food before freezing compared to longer heat treatments for canning.

How Much Fruit Is Too Much, According To Health Experts

Strangely, fruit is a contentious topic these days. It's commonplace to class fruit as 'good' or 'bad', so much so that people are afraid of bananas and apples, and only stick to certain fruits. There's a lot of conflicting information out there about fruit and nutrition, leaving many of us asking: How much fruit should we really be eating? And how much fruit is too much?

How People Came to Believe Blueberries Are the Healthiest Fruit

The story of antioxidants and highly colored foods involves as much marketing as science.

Is Dried Fruit Just a Giant Sugar Bomb?

Antioxidant- and fiber-filled snacks that last for months and can survive a crushing at the bottom of a backpack? Huh. Prunes sure are more badass than we thought.

Misunderstanding Orange Juice as a Health Drink

Juice is, nutritionally, not much better than soda. How did U.S. consumers come to believe that oranges, in any form, were an important part of a healthy diet?

New Report Says Fruit and Veg Is Actually Cheaper Than Junk Food

The IEA's assertion that processed foods cost more than healthy options undermines the belief that wealth is the main barrier to a good diet. This could impact schemes like the tax on sugary products currently being drawn up by the Government to deter people from buying junk food.

The top 25 healthy fruits: Blueberries, apples, cherries, bananas and 21 more healthy picks

Take your pick of the 25 most nutritious, fibre-filled, disease-fighting healthy fruits for sale at your local supermarket. And they're delicious too! Few things compare to the sweetness of fresh-picked strawberries or the luscious first bite of watermelon that leaves juice dripping down your chin. Fruits are not only delicious but healthful too. Rich in vitamins A and C, plus folate and other essential nutrients, they may help prevent heart disease and stroke, control blood pressure and cholesterol, prevent some types of cancer and guard against vision loss.

Want Free Fresh Fruit? Find It Online

With increasing attention on food waste, any effort to keep extra food from ending up in a landfill is worthwhile. FallingFruit.org is an international project that shows where the general public can find fruits, vegetables and nuts that are free for the taking. (And yes, it’s all entirely legal.)

Resources

Falling Fruit

Falling Fruit is a celebration of the overlooked culinary bounty of our city streets. By quantifying this resource on a map, we hope to facilitate intimate connections between people, food, and the natural organisms growing in our neighborhoods. Not just a free lunch! Foraging in the 21st century is an opportunity for urban exploration, to fight the scourge of stained sidewalks, and to reconnect with the botanical origins of food. Our map of urban edibles is not the first of its kind, but we aspire to be the most comprehensive, bringing together the maps of foragers from all across the internet.

Fruit & Nut Research and Information Center

The Fruit & Nut Research and Information Center was created in 1995 to coordinate and make publicly available University of California research-based information, and extension activities in planting, growing and harvesting fruits and nuts.

Fruits & Veggies For Better Health

Eating fruits and vegetables matters in maintaining a healthy weight and may even reduce your family's risk of many diseases...

Apricot Producers of California

The Apricot Producers of California invite you to discover apricots' rich heritage, powerful nutritional punch and invitingly unique addition to recipes

BC Blueberries

Blueberries have more to offer than just good looks and taste! You can't go wrong eating blueberries as they continue to be one of the best choices to include in a healthy diet. Blueberries have been considered one of the leading "Superfruits" by researchers in Canada and U.S. who keep finding more and more health benefits from this tasty little berry.

California Apple Commission

We hope you will find this site useful as you learn about California's apple industry.

California Fresh Fruit Association

The California Fresh Fruit Association (formerly the California Grape & Tree Fruit League) is a voluntary, nonprofit agricultural trade association that represents California’s fresh fruit industry.

California Pears

Welcome to the world of California Bartlett Pears. Whether you're a Bartlett grower, a retailer or a consumer at home, there is information here designed just for you.

California Raisins

With the rising concern over obesity and Type 2 diabetes among all age groups, the California Raisin industry is doing its part to to improve the situation via research on healthy snacking.

California Rare Fruit Growers

CRFG is focused on species not native to nor grown commercially in any given area. Its mission is to share knowledge acquired from its activities with home growers in particular and with anyone else in the world having an interest in edible plant cultivation.

California Strawberry Commission

California Strawberries pack a powerful nutritional punch!

Canadian Produce Marketing Association

CPMA's vision is to increase the market of fresh fruit and vegetables in Canada by encouraging cooperation and information exchange among all segments, at the domestic and international level, of the produce industry.

Florida Citrus

Every journey starts with a step, but a few missteps down the path of poor nutrition can lead to declining health, excessive weight gain and lack of energy. Fortunately, poor eating habits can be corrected. Take steps towards better health & wellness by eating a well-balanced diet to give your body the fuel it needs now and help prevent disease in the future.

Fresh Produce Association of the Americas

Mexican produce is delicious and healthy, and the Fresh Produce Association of the Americas (FPAA) is here to help get the word out and Mexican fruits and vegetables on American tables. Whether grown in a tropical valley or along the temperate coast, Mexico's sun-kissed produce is some of the best in the world.

Pomegranates

We eliminate the mess, show off our best recipes, sneak in some fun trivia, and show you how pomegranates can be the hit of the season.

Prune Bargaining Association

The Prune Bargaining Association (PBA) is a voluntary grower organization that represents its members' interests through communication, price negotiation and industry leadership to ensure a viable prune industry.

Raisin Administrative Committee

The Raisin Administrative Committee meets regularly at our headquarters in downtown Fresno, employs a staff of 17, collects and distributes delivery data weekly, shipment data monthly, publishes an annual report of industry statistics and policies, actively and directly markets into 15 foreign nations, and collaborates with the USDA's Agricultural Marketing Service.

U.S. Highbush Blueberry Council

Welcome to the world of highbush blueberries. This portal will direct you to where you want to go for information in one of our specialized, content-oriented pages. Enjoy!

United Fresh

United Fresh Produce Association is the industry's leading trade association committed to driving the growth and success of produce companies and their partners. United Fresh represents the interests of member companies throughout the global, fresh produce supply chain, including family-owned, private and publicly trade businesses as well as regional, national and international companies.

USApple

The U.S. Apple Association (USApple) is committed to serving the entire U.S. apple industry by representing the industry on national issues, increasing the demand for apples and apple products, and providing information on matters pertaining to the apple industry.

Wild Blueberries

Learn more about the antioxidant benefits of Wild Blueberries.

The Cranberry Institute

The Cranberry Institute is a not-for-profit organization founded in 1951 to further the success of cranberry growers and the industry in the Americas through health, agricultural and environmental stewardship research as well as cranberry promotion and education.