Eating local isn’t just better for the environment, it’s better for your body. Watermelon, for example, loses much of its beneficial properties if it is stored in a refrigerator rather than at room temperature.
Levels of beta carotene are double and levels of lypocene are 20% higher [in un-refrigerated watermelons], say researchers from the USDA Agricultural Research Service, Lane, Oklahoma, USA. – Medical News Today
The same is true of everything you’ll find in the produce section of your grocery store. When fruits and vegetables are cut from the plant, their nutritional value declines by the hour. And, you can taste the difference between vine-ripened fruits and vegetables, picked fresh, and those that have been sitting in trucks, refrigerators and on shelves for days.
Chopping fruit also causes it to lose nutrients, especially Vitamin C. As soon as you slice open a fruit and expose it to air, it begins to lose vitamins. Vitamin loss happens even faster when the fruits are cut and stored in the refrigerator. But, that doesn’t mean you can’t make a fruit salad the day before the family picnic – vitamin loss takes some time.
Your body is like a clock; add gunk to the works and it will stop working. I like to tell everyone: Eat better; feel better, look better, live better!