Buying plastic-free fruit and vegetables doesn’t need to be boring!
All year round we offer the staples like potatoes, carrots and onions but we also stock more interesting, seasonal varieties, like rainbow carrots, Jersey royal potatoes and red cabbage.
We package all of these for you in brown paper bags so you can enjoy eating a rainbow of plastic free, organic fruit and vegetables knowing that you are not only nourishing your family; you are looking after the earth too, helping to reduce plastic waste.
Fresh, Organic, Plastic Free Fruit
When you are looking for some delicious fruit to enjoy as a snack or as a dessert, you do not need to look any further than our apples. In season our range includes many older varieties never seen in supermarkets as well as some of the exciting newer ones.
‘An apple a day keeps the doctor away’ – there is a reason everyone has heard this old saying. Apples are a great source of vitamins A, C and flavonoids. They are packed with soluble fibre and apple pectin that helps to reduce cholesterol by reducing insulin secretion.
Perhaps apples are not for you and you would prefer to choose a healthy, tasty avocado – an excellent source of heart-healthy fats and full of vitamins C, K, folate and B6. The healthy fats in avocados have been shown to dramatically boost fertility,
Alternatively, you could buy some bananas, which are very good for giving you an energy boost. A first boost, quickly released from the fructose and a slower release of energy from the fibre (have you noticed how many tennis players eat them during important matches? There’s a good reason for that!) Bananas are also an excellent source of potassium.
Citrus and Exotic Fruits
We have a selection of oranges, lemons and grapefruit, augmented by Seville oranges and satsumas when the season permits.
Rich in folate and a good source of potassium which helps to maintain the fluid balance in your body, citrus fruits are known to be good to include in your 5-a-day eating plan. Enjoying citrus fruit will help support your immune system and aid in the absorption of dietary calcium.
In our exotic fruit range we offer the ever popular coconut, kiwi fruit and pineapples.
Coconuts are antiviral, antibacterial, anti-fungal and anti-parasite and may help to support your immune system. Coconuts also provide a source of quick energy.
Kiwi fruits are a good source of the antioxidant vitamin E and also contain vitamin C. A good source of dietary fibre they have the added benefit of looking very dramatic sliced into your fresh fruit salad!
Pineapples too are a good source of dietary fibre and will provide you with a good source of vitamin B1, vitamin B6 and copper.
With all these delicious organic fruits on offer eating a rainbow has never been easier or more enjoyable!
AND
On top of that, these all come with absolutely no plastic!
Fresh, Organic, Plastic-Free Vegetables
When it comes to eating a rainbow look no further than our fresh organic vegetables. (Better than Skittles any day of the week)
Here’s our rainbow guide to Plastic-Free Fruit and Vegetables (and we do confess to having stretched things a little to make this work)
Red
Tomatoes contain choline, as well as fibre, potassium and vitamin C. These nutrients have been shown to help with the health of the heart. Tomatoes have been widely studied for their antioxidant value, they contain excellent amounts of beta-carotene and the carotenoid lycopene which has been shown to help prevent heart disease.
Peppers do not just add colour to your plate, they are a valuable source of fibre and antioxidants (which ones are dependent on the colour you choose). Red peppers contain lycopene which has been shown to help combat various forms of cancer.
Orange
Organic carrots are nutritional heroes and store a goldmine of nutrients. No other vegetable or fruit contains as much carotene as carrots (the body converts carotene to vitamin A).
A truly versatile vegetable. Carrots are an excellent source of vitamins B & C and calcium pectate; an extraordinary pectin fibre that has been found to have cholesterol-lowering properties.
Raw carrots are an excellent source of vitamin A and potassium; they contain vitamin C, vitamin B6, thiamine, folic acid, and magnesium. They make a great snack or addition to a salad when grated.
Cooked carrots are an excellent source of vitamin A, a good source of potassium, and contain vitamin B6, copper, folic acid, and magnesium. The high level of beta-carotene is very important and gives carrots their distinctive orange colour.
Sweet potatoes have a creamy texture and a sweet-spicy flavour that makes them ideal for savoury dishes. Sweet potatoes are an excellent source of vitamin A. They are also a very good source of vitamin C, manganese, copper, dietary fibre, vitamin B6, potassium and iron.
Yellow
Peppers – just have a look at what we’ve already said about these wonderfully colourful veggies! The yellow pepper has the added advantage of being the richest in vitamin C out of all of the peppers.
Butternut Squash is a type of winter squash. It has a sweet, nutty taste similar to that of a pumpkin. When ripe, it turns an increasingly deep orange, and becomes sweeter and richer.
Very low in saturated fat, cholesterol and sodium, it is also a good source of dietary fibre, vitamin E (alpha-tocopherol), thiamine, niacin, vitamin B6, folate, calcium and magnesium, and a very good source of vitamin A, vitamin C, potassium and manganese.
Green
Courgettes: are a type of summer squash.
Prepare using a variety of cooking techniques, such as steaming, boiling, grilling, or you can stuff and bake, barbecue or fry, they are also great for soufflés and even cakes.
Low in saturated fat and very low in cholesterol and sodium, they are also a good source of thiamine, niacin and pantothenic acid.
Leeks: a tender, edible member of the lily family. They have a mild onion taste with a slightly sweet edge and look like overgrown green onions.
Leeks contain many sulphur compounds and an impressive amount of polyphenols, including the flavonoid kaempferol. These substances play a considerably important role in support of our body’s antioxidant and detox systems as well as the formation of our connective tissue.
BLUE:
( this is where we start to become a little unstuck, as we don’t actually have any blue vegetables for sale. However, here we are going to tell you about some of the white vegetables we have because blue does make white whiter…… yes, tenuous but here you go!)
Alliums: This includes onions, garlic and shallots They are an excellent source of quercetin, an anti-inflammatory antioxidant that can help sufferers of inflammatory illnesses such as arthritis. While alliums do not contain particularly large amounts of vitamins and minerals they do contain allyl sulphides which may help to lower blood pressure.
Mushrooms: the range will vary depending on seasonality and what the foragers can find! While the nutrients in mushrooms vary depending on the variety, most provide protein and a wide range of amino acids.
INDIGO:
Aubergines: A good source of fibre and folic acid. The colour of the skin is a result of the presence of anthocyanins (compounds with antioxidant properties.) For our purposes here we are calling it indigo!
Although often associated with warmer, more exotic lands, aubergines are widely cultivated in Britain.
The subtle and distinctive combination of textures and flavours – smooth, fleshy, creamy, smoky – make it a versatile and beguiling component of many great dishes.
VIOLET:
Beetroot: Amazing that the hardy, crunchy, often rough looking exterior of raw beetroot can be transformed into the soft and buttery cooked beetroot.
Even though they have the highest sugar content of all vegetables, they are very low in calories.
Betacyanin, the pigment that gives beets their rich, purple-crimson colour is a powerful cancer-fighting agent. Beets are also an excellent source of many other nutrients such as vitamin C, folate and iron.
Beets can boost the body’s natural defences in the liver, regenerating immune cells. In addition, beetroot contains silica which is essential for healthy skin, hair, ligaments, tendons and bones.
So there it is – our rainbow of plastic-free, organic vegetables.
Any of these plastic-free fruit and vegetables will add colour and interest to your meals and as you can see from the brief details we have included they are all tremendous for boosting your health, providing nutrients that our bodies really need to help us lead happy, healthy lives.
Aim for at least 3 servings of vegetables and 2 of fruit every day and see how much it might change your life.
And as an added bonus by buying them from Real Plastic-Free you won’t have plastic leftovers to dispose of! Hopefully you won’t have leftovers at all.
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