Why We Source Our Ingredients Locally

At Frozen Garden, we believe in the real food movement and supporting real food farmers. That’s why we partner with local famers and suppliers in Northwest Indiana and Southwest Michigan. We’re committed to offering you the highest quality produce in our ready to blend frozen green smoothies. 

Local Produce vs. Industrial Produce

Why do we choose local produce over industrial produce? Well, aside from the obvious heebie-jeebies involved, “industrial food” may also be less nutritious than local fruits and veggies.

Penn State food scientists found when stored at 39 degrees, spinach loses 47 percent of its nutrient content after eight days. At 68 degrees, it takes only four days for spinach to lose the same amount of nutrients. Now, picture this: spinach is picked by the grower and stored in a warm truck for several days while it’s being shipped to another part of the country. Imagine how many more nutrients are lost before the spinach even makes it to your dinner table. It’s also important to keep in mind that even if the color looks good, it doesn’t mean it still contains nutrients. And, adding spinach to ice water won’t help either because nutrient loss is irreversible.

That’s why the awesome part about partnering with local farmers is we often receive our local crops within a day of harvest. That means we can blast freeze them ASAP to retain maximum nutrients.

Sourcing Non-Local Ingredients

We do source some of our ingredients outside the area—at least until a local farm masters the art of growing avocados and pineapples in the midwest. And, we buy certified organic for any ingredient on the Environmental Working Group's Dirty Dozen™ list that are not available locally. Learn more about local versus organic fruits and veggies in our Getting REAL: Fruits and Vegetable blog post.