Last week I wrote two entries to debunk commonly circulated “hacks” about supermarket shopping. Let’s tackle a few more today.

4. Produce is sprayed with water to add weight. A complaint I often hear is that produce in the wet case (usually along the edges of the produce department) is misted with water so grocers can charge for the water weight. This one doesn’t hold any water (zing! I’ll see myself out…) because many of the items in the wet case – like bunches of herbs or heads of lettuce – are sold by unit, not weight. The regular misting is done to keep the produce from drying out. If you have ever come home from work to realized you had left a bunch of fresh spinach sitting on your kitchen counter all day, you would understand how quickly produce, especially the leafy ones, can dry out. There are some produce items that are sold by weight and need to be sprayed periodically with water while they sit in the supermarket case. In that case, your best bet is to give it a good shake before putting it in your cart.

5. Local is best/organic is best. In recent years, buying local and/or organic has been seen as the healthier, more environmentally responsible, or even – dare I say in the case of some snooty hipsters – the morally superior thing to do. But just like how there isn’t a clear-cut verdict on private label items, buying local or organic is not automatically the best option. Typically organics contain fewer pesticide residues and a lower risk of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. However, whether the nutritional value of organics is better than their conventionally grown/raised counterparts depends largely on the category of product. While organic farming is generally kinder to the environment, these benefits are sometimes offset when an organic product needs to travel long distances between the farm and the consumer. Bottom line: Consider buying the organic version of the Dirty Dozen, a handful of produce that are known to contain high levels of pesticide residues in their conventionally grown form, and save your money by buying the conventional version of the Clean Fifteen. Similarly, while buying local tends to minimize the resource consumption associated with transportation, it is important to also consider the ethics of the producer, such as how it handles animal welfare or disposes of waste.

6. Fresh or bust. Somewhere along the food porn movement, in which plump, dewy fruits sit in their glistening glory, we’ve been trained to believe that fresh produce is always better than its processed counterpart. However, often the canned or frozen version is actually equally nutritious, and taste even better (plus often comes with cost savings). For example, fresh tomatoes intended for sale in the produce department are often picked while they are still green and then allowed to ripen over the course of transport and storage. In contrast, tomatoes intended for canning are picked from the vine at the peak of their natural ripeness, and the canning process locks in the prime flavour. Through the winter months in Canada, fresh soft fruits and stone fruits are available as imports typically from California or Mexico, which come with a sizable carbon footprint. Like the tomatoes, these fruits are often picked before their maximum ripeness to allow for better shelf life after transportation. In contrast, Canadian-grown berries, peaches, and nectarines are often picked at their peak in the summer and frozen immediately. Buying frozen Canadian fruit through the winter is one way to enjoy the best flavours while reducing the transport-related carbon footprint.

That’s it for now in terms of debunking, folks! I hope you enjoyed this short series. The intent of writing these entries wasn’t to say “They’re wrong, I’m right” but to illustrate that even for something seemingly straightforward like buying food at the supermarket, there is often no one-size-fits-all rule or generalization. As the market evolves, consumers can all benefit continuing to learn more about our food.