01x02 - Down To Fruit?

[bunniefuu]

[Zooey] You know
what's awesome about
today's food label?

Information.

We have so much data,

and it's right there
so you can make informed
decisions about everything.

Well, not everything.

What are we supposed
to do about fruit?

It's arguable the most
beautiful part
of the grocery store,

but it's also the section that
elicits the most questions

and the least information.

We find ourselves wondering,

"Is organic
actually worth it?"

"How long 'till
my fruit goes bad?"

"Should I buy fruit
from overseas?"

"Are the nutritional
differences between
fresh, canned, and frozen?"

I know, it's a daunting
grocery list,

but when we're done,
we'll be able to navigate

the produce section
without a map

One of the biggest
conundrums at the store

is whether or not
to buy organic,

especially when it's almost
always more expensive.

And since the price of fresh
fruit has gone up 10%

in the last year alone,

it really does beg
the question,

"Is organic worth the money?"

I sent my friend,
Dariany Santana,

to Harry's Berries in Oxnard,
California, to find out.

You guys are fully organic?

Yes, we are.
Want to tell her about it?

We started using
organic practices

in about 1998.

We got certified organic
in 2013.

For many years, we grew
without using pesticides,

using organic fertilizers.

We've been that way
for almost ten years now.

- Look at this field.
- [Molly laughs]

- This is a strawberry field.
- [Dariany] Strawberry
fields forever!

[Zooey] To be
a certified organic,

a farmer must deal with weeds,
diseases, and insects,

without using synthetic
pesticides or fertilizer

and they need to pass
inspection every year.

Long term exposure
to pesticides,

which most conventional
farms use,

can contribute to a wide
variety of ailments

ranging from asthma
and depression

to Parkinson's and cancer.

Not only do I smell
strawberries, but...

There's so many
beautiful flowers.

Oh, there's a ladybug!

- [Dariany laughs]
- [Kristopher] Yeah,
that's why we have them.

These flowers are what
we call a beneficial
insect habitat.

The good bugs, essentially,

are attracted to these
types of flowers.

What it's doing
to the poor little aphids
is not great,

- [Dariany] Oh.
- [Kristopher] But it works out
better for...

- The strawberry.
- The strawberry plant.

- [Dariany] These bugs
are working.
- [Molly] They really are.

[Kristopher] We have
like half a million

extra employees out there.

[Dariany] You know,
I just started gardening
two weeks ago,

which is the bug I should
be looking at?

For your home garden,
if you've got aphids,

- ladybugs are the most
common used.
- [Kristopher] Ladybugs.

[Molly] And they
will eat them.

[Kristopher] They really help. Yeah.

There are some fruits
they say that you must
have organic,

do you feel like strawberries
fall under that category?

Definitely. Yeah.

Strawberries are essentially
little sponges.

Anything you're gonna
apply to them,

it's just gonna get
soaked up in the pores.

So, yeah, you definitely wanna
eat organic strawberries.

- [Dariany] You do it, yeah.
- [Kristopher]
Put your thumb there.

[Dariany] Put your thumb here.

There, you did it!
First try.

Take a bite.

- I don't even have
to wash it?
- Nope.

It is a wonderful thing
to eat a berry

straight out of the field,
warm in the sun.

They just have the most
flavor that I've ever had
in a strawberry.

They're so juicy,
so sweet.

We have old people tell us
that's how they tasted like
when they were children

before all the flavor
was bred out of them.

It sounds so crazy.

To take out the flavor.
Why else are they here?

It's about profitability,
and you need to have

something that's
gonna last longer.

I say like two generations
of Americans

have never tasted what
a real strawberry should
taste like.

[Dariany] So as a future
strawberry grower,

what's like the number
one tip you would tell me

to grow beautiful
strawberries?

- Let us do it for you.
- Okay, great.

- Thank you.
- [Molly laughs]

That is the confidence
I needed.

- Thank you so much.
- [others laugh]

Organic strawberries?
Worth it.

But does that advice
apply to all fruit?

Or are there some
non-organic options
out there

that can help us save
a few bucks?

Browsing the produce aisle

is a lot like being a judge
in one of those prestigious
dog shows.

I mean, just because
a mini schnauzer

crushes the showmanship competition,

doesn't mean he's a shoe-in
for the obedience round.

The same goes for picking
a perfect piece of fruit.

Especially if you're choosing
between organic

and non-organic options.

Take avocados,
for example.

Let's put one of America's
favorite fruits to the test.

First up, health and safety.

Now the judges can assume

that organic avo
is gonna crush
the competition.

I mean, it was grown in soil,

on a tree untouched
by prohibited substances

for three years.

Talk about pedigree.

But this round's not over yet.

A 2022 study

of 46 non-organic
produce items

by the Environmental
Working Group,

found that avocados carried
the lowest levels of pesticides,

and that's thanks
to its thick protective peel.

By the way, you can apply
this same logic when you're
shopping for other fruits

with thick skins and peels,
like cantaloupe,

pineapple, papaya, and mango.

For these types of fruit,
their thick skins
means buying organic

isn't really making
you that much safer.

However, if you're concerned
about exposure to pesticides,

you may want to consider
going organic

for fruits like strawberries,

which the Environmental
Working Group

found to have a higher rate
of pesticide residue.

So let's call this
round a tie.

Now onto price.

From working moms
to starving college bros,

everyone has money
on their mind.

And this round goes
to non-organic. Easily.

Organic farmers
have to spend a lot
more money

to produce their products.

Those costs are passed
along to you, the consumer.

And now, the final round.

One that the true connoisseurs
follow closely.

Environmental impact.

The USDA standards
for organic are intense.

Organic farmers are almost
never allowed to use
synthetic pesticides,

they're required to grow
cover crops

which can protect the
soil from erosion,

and they're not allowed
to heavily till their soil

which helps it retain
water more effectively.

Because we know organic
farmers must meet
these standards,

we give this round to them.

So who's the overall
winner here?

Well, when it comes
to choosing between

organic and non-organic fruit,

the answer is us,
the informed consumer.

If the fruit has a thick
skin or rind,

non-organic is cool,
and you'll save some cash.

If it has a soft skin,

organic is better
for our health
and the environment.

So...

Just like the judges
in a kennel club show

don't always pick the dog
with the best pedigree,

you can't expect to pick
the best produce for you

simply by relying
on the label.

Juicing's a trend that's
become big business
in the last few years,

I like fresh juice just
as much as the next girl,

but I do have some questions.

Is that fancy bottle
of juice as packed

with nutrients as we think?

And is it worth
the high price tag?

We sent Carlos Parisi

to meet with a licensed
dietician to squeeze an answer

to that age-old totally
new question:

To juice or not to juice?

Juicing has been like
this fad that I know a lot
of people have gotten into.

[Lauren] Very trendy
at the moment.

- Yep.
- Super trendy.

Eating fruits or vegetables
in their whole form

is kind of our
body's natural way
of portion control.

I would say if somebody's
having a difficult time

eating fruits and vegetable
in their diet

and juicing is gonna get them
fruits and vegetables

and the nutrients from
those foods,

that would be
a good way to start
to get those nutrients.

When I'm picking out
fruits and vegetables

for juices, I'm thinking
of different colors,

because different colors
means different antioxidants
and different nutrients.

So what I like about these
berries that we're looking
at in particular,

is we've got seeds
then those are gonna add
a little bit of fiber.

[Zooey] Fruits like apples,
bananas, strawberries,
and raspberries

are a great source of fiber,
which promotes weight loss,

helps lower cholesterol,

and even helps prevent
diabetes and heart attacks.

Citrus is great, obviously,
for vitamin C,

and then we are going
to get sort of those
orangey, yellow colors.

So that's going to add
to that sort of rainbow
that we're trying to create.

Press it to feel how it is.

- See how soft it is.
- Yeah, I want it
a little soft.

Like this is a good one.

It's like not super hard.

- And then that's it?
- Yeah.

- We can go make juice?
- [Lauren] We're going
to make juice.

All right, cool, cool.

I think this first juice
we'll make

is gonna be sort of like
a summer fruits juice

So we're gonna go all
fruits with this one

and leave the vegies
out for now.

So if I don't have like
one of these super
fancy machines at home,

- what can I do?
- You technically need
a juicer.

'Cause this is using
a cold spin system...

- [Carlos] Okay.
- ...to cold press the juice.

Let's give this juice a try.

Got it?

- Thank you. Mmm, smells good. Cheers.
- Cheers.

- Whoa, that's sweet.
- [Lauren] Yeah.

That's really sweet.

- It's got a lot
of sweetness to it...
- [Carlos exclaims]

- ...'cause it's basically
all fruit.
- [Carlos] Oh, my God.

It hurts.

- It hurts to drink.
- So sweet it hurts?

This is already sweet
on its own

and then commercial juicers
are probably going
to add sugar as well

because sugar, salt
and fat sell food.

We're gonna pull back
on the fruit in this one,

it's gonna be a little
less sweet,

but in a good way
because that was
painful to drink.

- [Carlos] All right.
- [Lauren] So we've got about
half fruit,

half vegetable in this one.

Oh, come one,
get in there, kale.

That's the other thing
about juicing.

So much of the vegetable
or the fruit gets lost

because we're reducing
the texture down.

We're losing a lot
of the fibers.

And then we'll do half
of a banana, please, sir.

I'm going to throw
these kiwis in while
you're doing that.

I'm just throwing them in
whole because we're juicing.

We've got this half fruit,
half vegetable juice.

So let's try this one.

- Texture's about the same.
- Yeah.

But the flavor's
so much less painful.

This is the original all
fruit juice,

and then this is the half
fruit half vegetable juice.

So 394 calories on this guy,

227 calories on this one.

So we've shaved off
around 150 calories.

Ninety-nine grams
of carbohydrates
in the all fruit,

- 50 grams of carbohydrates
in this one.
- [Carlos] Okay.

- So it cut that down
in half.
- Yeah.

But more importantly
that has one has 71 grams
of sugar

within those carbohydrates.

- And this one has 25 grams
of sugar.
- Oh, wow.

I have very few circumstances
as a registered dietician

where I can recommend
a juice over solid fruits
and vegetables,

or solid foods, right?

- So the trend
of juicing then?
- Yeah.

- It's a fad?
- Yeah, and that fad

arguing that juicing
is a way to detoxify
or cleanse the body.

Our bodies have our own
detoxification and cleansing
systems built in.

All you have to do
to activate that

or to make sure it can do that

is to make sure it has
everything that it needs.

- Makes sense.
- That brings us to a smoothie.

- All right, well, let's make
a smoothie then.
- All right.

When I'm telling my patients
how to build a smoothie,

I'm telling them
they need protein,
they need carbohydrates,

uh, they need healthy fat,

uh, and I always ask them
to add vegetables in.

So we're using a lot
of the same ingredients

that we used
in our last juice.

For this particular protein
powder that we're using,

it's just a plain
protein powder.

So we can kind of like
really get the flavors
of the other ingredients.

For the healthy fat,
but it also kind of doubles
up a fiber ingredient too,

we're gonna do flax seed
meal, we're not gonna do
whole flax seed,

'cause that goes out
the same way it comes in.

- [Carlos] Oh, yeah.
- [Lauren] And you can see
it pours a little bit thicker.

- So what do you think?
- That's pretty good.

Flavor's nice,
it's refreshing,

it's not too thick

So we've got fresh
ingredients here...

- Yes.
- ...if I do canned
or frozen,

is there something wrong
with that, is that fine?

Canned is obviously
going to sit there
the longest.

I would say frozen's
probably your next
best bet to fresh.

Okay, so fresh.

Fresh, frozen, canned.

Now I have a really good
smoothie for me to start
my day with.

Awesome.

I have a confession to make.

Though I always aim
to be a conscientious consumer,

there have been occasions

where I have bought
fruit at the store

and it's gone bad
before we could eat it.

There, I've said it.
I've been a food waster
and I feel terrible about it.

I know I'm not alone
in this food faux pas

so I wanted to learn
some ways to avoid

wasting any more
of nature's candy.

To get some pointers
on avoiding fruit waste,

and score some totally
free produce in the process,

I'm meeting with
two of my favorite
fruit evangelists.

Tell me how you
got into this amazing
project, Fallen Fruit.

We knew that there were
a couple fruit trees
in the neighborhood.

but we discovered there
were over 100 fruit trees
in five city blocks.

We mapped these fruit trees
that sort of existed

in public space or hanging
over the sidewalk

- in maybe someone else's yard.
- [Zooey] Right.

And then sort of
we were questioning
like who has the right

to these fruit trees
that are growing

right over the sidewalk.

You really don't need
300 pounds of plums

- all in the same week.
- [Zooey] Yeah.

The truth is a mature fruit
tree typically will make
200 to 500 pounds of fruit.

- [Zooey] That's a lot
of pounds.
- So, sharing that is,

is not just a nice thing
to do, it's actually kind of
remove the burden.

[Zooey] Harvesting fruit
on public land rescues
overlooked produce

that could otherwise
go to waste,

And can help ease our guilty
conscious for letting food
go bad in our fridge.

Just check your local rules
and regulations first.

You're gonna get 300 or 500
organic apples per tree.

- Maybe it becomes...
- Make apple sauce,
you freeze some stuff,

- share it with your friends.
- Make some jam.

Oh, I love some jam.

- You want to pick some fruit?
- [Zooey] I do.

Are these mandarins?

- Bitter oranges.
- They look delicious
from here.

Heads up.

Fruit pickers are awesome.

This is amazing because
it really came off the tree
so easily.

Oh, wow, so it must
be really ripe.

- Should we...
- [David] It might be a bitter
orange. Let's find out.

[Zooey] Let's see. Wow,
it's very easy to peel.

- Bitter orange...
- What is a bitter orange?
I've never had one.

- It's so tart that it's
actually not very tasty.
- Care for a try?

- [Austin] But it makes
great jam.
- Okay.

- [Austin] Because
of the tartness.
- Try?

[Austin] Thank you.

Mmm-hmm.

- That is bitter.
- Mmm.

- Mmm-hmm.
- [laughs]

[Austin] That is is some
intense flavor.

But, but we are gonna
pick some of these

because they honestly
make the best jam
in the world.

[Zooey] It's almost as sour
as a lemon.

But you know, it leaves
a nice lingering flavor.

I bet you it would be
great as a flavoring
for lots of things.

[David] And you really can't
buy bitter oranges

in the grocery stores,
it's very hard to find.

- I know why.
- [all laugh]

- We're gonna show you
how to make some jam.
- Okay, great.

- I'm excited.
- I'll show you
how we make jam.

I wanna know how
you guys make jam.

One of the things
that's exciting about jam

is you really don't
have to follow a recipe.

What's important is that you
follow ratios.

So what we're gonna do
is just kinda measure out
about four cups of fruit.

We're gonna start
with the lemons.

- [Zooey] Okay.
- We just want to cut
off the white part.

Because when you
cook the white part,
it's called pith,

it has a tendency
to get bitter.

[Austin] It's so easy
to make this and give
it to your friends.

And it's a way like fruit
at a certain time

that maybe isn't around
all year long.

Last a little bit longer.

Go ahead and dump
all that fruit in here.

[Zooey] What's this here?

[Austin] That's the pectin.

Pectin is a natural product.

It's commercially made
out of apples.

[Austin] It's a binder.

If we put that in
with the raw fruit,

after it boils one time,

- then we put the sugar in.
- [Zooey] Okay, okay.

While this boils, we can
prepare some stuff
to dehydrate.

- Amazing. That's exciting.
- Okay, cool.

Why would you choose to do
dehydration over making

jam or something else?

If you have extra fruit
around the house
and it might be going bad,

turning it into dehydrated
fruit is a healthy snack

that doesn't rot,
it doesn't go bad,

and you didn't add any
preservatives or sugar.

And then the scraps
you can put in the compost
and it's all good.

We have a dehydrator
right here.

- [Zooey] Yeah.
- [David] And the way it's
designed is so easy to use.

They're just stackable trays.

If you don't have
a dehydrator, is there
a way to dehydrate at home

without one of these?

There are guidelines for using
just a conventional oven...

- Okay.
- ...and you put it on
the lowest setting.

- You have leave the door
cracked a little bit too.
- [Zooey] Right. Okay.

Because you want
the temperature to be low

and you want to have it
have ventilation

- so it doesn't actually cook.
- Right.

Typically this takes
eight to 10 hours

- to dehydrate the fruits.
- Right.

- So we brought some
that we made...
- Oh, amazing.

- ...if you want
to check it out.
- Okay.

There's some apples here

- that are the same
that we already cut.
- [Zooey] Mmm, yum.

The great part about
dried is it retains

- over 99% of it's
nutritional value.
- [Zooey] Mmm.

And it's like a really good
way to snack on the go.

- Yeah.
- Going out for a hike
or whatever.

- Should we check
on the jam?
- Yep, let's do it.

So what we do is we
seal it really fast
and turn it upside down.

[Zooey] And what does that do?

The heat gets
transferred to the lid

and it sterilizes and vacuum
seals the jar automatically.

- Oh, so you don't need to like
put it in the dishwasher?
- [David] Exactly.

- Mmm, oh, my God. Mmm.
- Oh, it's fantastic.

It's so good.

So now we have options
to keep our fruit

and all its nutrients
from going to waste,

which is important
when you think of just

how much goes into
getting fruit to our tables.

Whether it's from farms
like Harry's Berries,

or from trees that could be
thousands of miles away.

If you think flying sucks,

try being a piece of fruit.

Sure you have to deal
with endless security lines,

screaming infants,

the lady who listens
to her astrology podcast
at full volume

in the seat to your left,

and the guy who uses
both arm rests on the right.

But that's nothing compared
to what our produce endures

on their frequent
international journeys.

Since we ship so much fruit,

we can eat it pretty much
any time of year,

if we live near a supermarket.

I mean, we can eat
berries in December

which would seem
like witchcraft to our
great-grandparents.

but all this travel isn't
always a pleasant
experience for the fruit

which suffers some serious
indignities before they reach
our tastebuds.

The process starts early,

for example some farmers
will choose to harvest

the most durable varieties
of their fruits

rather than the most flavorful

to ensure that they
survive the flight.

Then many are picked
before they're truly ready

so they can ripen
on their long journey.

Talk about a rude awakening.

Now if you thought going
through a metal detector
was bad,

try being a mango.

The USDA calls
for them to be dunked
in 115 degree water

before they're shipped

to prevent invasive
fruit flies from taking
the trip with them.

Once they make it
on the flight,

fruits may be preserved

through something
called controlled
atmosphere technology.

This is a process where
the levels of carbon dioxide,

oxygen, and nitrogen
in the fruits container

are manipulated to slow
the ripening process.

Each step in this process
could prevent the development

of certain flavors we love,

or introduce others
that we don't.

So even though
we get the chance
to eat them year round,

we're not really enjoying
their fullest flavor.

The solution?

We need to remember the fruits
that grow near to us

can be picked later and don't
have to travel so far

and may just taste
better for it.

There's no denying
that having access to fruits

from all around the world
has its benefits,

but for my tastebuds,
nothing beats fresh and local.

So far we've learned

when and when not
to spring for organic,

that fresh and frozen fruit
smoothies can be more
nutritious than juice,

dehydrated and jam
are great ways to preserve,

and a lot of our fruit travels
a really long way to get
to our stores.

But what if you local store
doesn't have fresh fruit?

More than 40 million Americans
live in areas

where healthy nutritious food
is hard to come by.

So how do you know
if you live in a food desert?

And what can we
all do about it?

To find out, Dariany Santana

is headed to Inglewood, California

where a group thinks
they might have the answer.

Hello.

Hey, Dariany.

- [Dariany] How are you?
- I'm great.

[Dariany] I love it in here.
What's happening today?

Today we're super excited
to show off our community,

- with a produce giveaway.
- You're just gonna give away
a bunch of free produce?

Yeah, we're gonna
give free fruits

and vegetables
to the community.

This is Dariany.

- [Nicole] Hi, Dariany.
- [Dariany] Hi.

I'm Nicole, nice to meet you.

I'm so excited to hear more
about this Social Justice

- Learning...
- [both]... Institute.

We are helping to improve
the education, health
and well-being

of youth and communities
of color.

It can be really difficult
for people to get access
to healthy food,

to have a safe place
to like be outside
with their family,

to access healthcare.

Just all those things
that make it so you can
live a long and healthy life.

It shouldn't be harder for me
and my community to do that

than in other communities.

So, organizations like mine
do the due diligence

of working with our
community to educate them,

and to create access for them.

My name is Nicole

and today we are here
at Hank's Mini Market,
one of my favorite places.

We rescue food from
the produce district.

This is food that restaurants
and grocery stores

go down-town to pick up,
but maybe somebody
changed their menu,

or they were supposed
to pick the peppers
up last week,

but they didn't to them
'til this week,

so now they won't work
for the store.

Whatever the case,

the produce is great,
oftentimes organic.

We're able to grab it,
bring it in to our community,

gather with wonderful folks
like y'all,

- and give it
to people for free.
- [man] Thank you.

What does it mean to you
to have a place like this

that you can get
healthier foods
and fresh vegies and fruit?

I feel that it's really great
to have something like this
for the community.

So we can eat much
more healthier.

The urban community,
we don't have a lot of access

to fresher fruits
and vegetables

and sometimes I have
to drive way further

to get fresh produce.

[woman] I share
with my friends

'cause they don't have work.

You guys have no idea
how tight it is right now.

I keep hearing the concept
of a food desert.

Do you consider this
neighborhood to be
a food desert?

So, we call it a food swamp.

If you notice in this
neighborhood, there's food.

Right, fast food, and pizza,

and more fast food,
and more pizza.

They don't give people an easy
way to get healthy foods,

but 40% of all the food
grown in this country
gets thrown in the trashcan.

- [Dariany] Yeah, like this
is an "ugly" apple.
- Right, exactly.

- Exactly.
- No, all apples
are beautiful.

Right, all apples matter.

So, we're able to go and grab
that food,

bring it in to our
community and give it
to people for free.

We are working on
legislation to make this
accessible to everyone.

There's no reason why
across the country,
there can't be funding

to rescue food,

because waste
happens everywhere.

And it's a win-win situation
because, yeah, you're feeding
the community,

- but you're not wasting food.
- [Nicole] Exactly.

And, of course, while we would
prefer organic

just because we that know
nothing has been added to it,

or sprayed on it that can
be harmful for people,

you're gonna get the same
amount of nutrition

from a conventionally grown
fruit or vegetable

as you would from
an organic one.

Again, just wash 'em.

You know, a little bit
dish soap, a little bit
of white vinegar

to wash everything off
and you're good to go.

- White vinegar is like
the cure for everything.
- Right?

Frozen fruits and vegetables
are really, really
healthy as well.

So I encourage people
to use fresh and frozen,

and then if canned
is the way to go too,

that's an option as well.

We just encourage people
to rinse it, you know,

find things that are not
in syrup, find things
that are in water.

And then rinse them as best
you can to get as many

preservatives and sodium
off of them.

But get your fruits
and vegetables.

Get it in how you
can get it in. [laughs]

Now the produce
section isn't so intimidating
anymore, is it?

But there's one question
we haven't answered yet.

How do we know the best
way to get our fruit?

Fresh, canned, or frozen.

Now I know what you're
thinking, "That Zooey,

she's gonna say fresh
and local is always best."

In many cases, that's totally
what I would say.

But I've got a little
curveball for you.

The best way to consume fruit

may actually be frozen.

Why? Fresh fruit
is often picked when
it's not quite ripe.

So it can withstand
the long journey to our table,

but frozen fruit
is usually picked
at peak ripeness.

So it develops more
flavor and nutrition.

All of which are locked in
immediately when it's frozen.

So if you're lucky enough
to live where fruit grows,

then absolutely go fresh
and local.

But if you're one
of the million Americans
who doesn't,

then frozen fruit may just
be your new best friend.

Hey, you ever wish
you could eat a yummy
bowl of cereal

without feeling a little
guilty about the sugar?

Me too. I may be able
to help you out.

Next time.