Is fresh food more nutritious?

Here's a few thoughts:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/1479057...its-are-surprisingly-nutritious/#.UOh7FRzF_k0

http://voices.yahoo.com/freeze-dried-fruit-vs-fresh-fruit-which-better-46892.html

There is a slight reduction in Vitamin C levels after freeze-drying, which may be linked to the removal of water from foods. (This is why we have no freeze-dried citrus fruit, as its water content is too high to effectively freeze dry it.) Since Vitamin C is water soluble, it follows that it may be reduced when the water goes.

The points about spoilage and degradation are important. It's extremely easy to eat a more healthy diet when you can carry fruit with you at work, etc. with no fear of spoilage. I keep a baggie of fruit in my lab coat pocket at work and don't worry if I forget about it for a week or a month. It's good for a year after removal from the can. None of this should be taken to mean that one should eliminate fresh foods from their diet. However, the availability of shelf-stable foods that have high nutritional content is a useful augmentation to those fresh foods.

Disclaimer: I represent a major supplier of freeze-dried food, Shelf Reliance. We have used these foods (meat, dairy, vegetables, fruit, and staple items) in our home and trust them to provide good nutrition to our family. When the "dairy cliff" threatened, one friend asked what we'd do when milk hit $8.00 per gallon. I said, "I have about 200 gallons of milk at home that I can use over the next 25 years, no problem."

Feel free to PM for more info.

Lee