Long hours on the road make even the best of us weary and cranky, and make us lose our shine. Our vegetables suffer from the same when they are subjected to the vagaries of long travel.
Vegetables that have a long transit time from harvest are susceptible to rapid loss of moisture and Vitamin C. What reaches the market is no longer as juicy or healthy as it originally would have been. In case of leafy vegetables, a loss of 3% of fresh weight makes them almost inedible! And the deterioration of the veggies doesn’t stop until consumed.
The degeneration is usually slowed by cooling or chilling the vegetables or even through chemical treatment. Now, that still doesn’t make it right! While these practices are not only expensive, they can irreversibly impact the quality of the produce. Some sensitive crops can even get ‘Chilling Injury’ which damages their texture and taste. Artificial wax, coated on apples to extend shelf life can be dangerous if consumed.
Result? Subpar produce reaches the market, which further deteriorates on the shelf before it gets picked up.
Here’s what goes on at True Leaf Farms. Crops are hand-harvested (more on hand-harvesting vs tech-driven harvesting later!), packaged and dispatched early in the morning. We use specially designed ziplock bags which help in extending the shelf life of the vegetables without altering their nature. Our delivery team beats the morning rush and delivers the vegetables within a few hours of harvesting to ensure that the produce reaches you in its freshest, unadulterated and “true” form (more on the ‘true’ quotient of greens later)!
With us, you can enjoy the true freshness of vegetables as if they were grown in your own kitchen garden - a luxury many of us left behind with childhood!