Hi. I adore the book and I am fully enjoying the flirting, but I have a few questions.   In The Kind Diet it says to avoid frozen and canned veggies.  Why?  I guess I can see how canned foods might lose nutrients, but I thought frozen foods sometimes had more nutrients depending on the time of year because they were "flash frozen" . . . is this false?  And what about organic canned beans?  Why are they bad?
I am a little confused . . . any and all guidance would be appreciated! 

I'd love to know this, too. I mostly use fresh or frozen for veggies, but I really like to use canned beans because they're such a quick and easy protein source. I really don't have the time to be slaving over a stove to make beans from dry. Thoughts?

organic canned beans arent bad i think. foods just always better if you make it from scratch. bu if you dont have time, buying the tinned stuff is still gonna be way nutritionally beneficial. make sure u rinse the beans though to get all the salt off... thats the main thing i can think of, lots of tinned beans are stored in brine (salt water)to help preserve it.

Hi guys,
The convenience of frozen veggies and canned beans are what makes this type of plan work so well in my life. 
I'm not going to always have veggies bought or beans soaked. I understand that fresh is superior to canned or frozen but it is only a little bit superior.
Opening a can of beans for my soup is a whole lot better then getting soup from the local diner. A block of frozen spinach can be heated up in a few minutes and is a much better choice then a fresh bowl of cereal or anything that isn't a vegetable.

We all make decisions for our life based on a lot of factors. Canned beans and frozen veggies are better food choices then any other foods except fresh veggies and dried beans. For a guy without much capacity for culinary extravagance, I found that having these imperfect foods on hand at all times prevented me from having to eat something much worse.

I wouldn't consider canned vegetables though, except in a real pinch.

Okay so thanks everyone for the feedback and I agree that if you have to choose canned foods for convenience or budget options than so be it. 
However, I was talking with a classmate (who has taken some nutrition courses) about this issue and it got her thinking and this is what she found out and shared with me.

 While canned foods are better for you than they used to be (i.e. they don't contain lead anymore) they do contain BPA (even organic canned foods). 
Below is a link to an article and video from Consumer Reports.  It makes me glad I eat very few canned foods.  I think I am going to stick to frozen when I need to for cost/convenience and soak my bulk purchased dry beans overnight when I can.
 
http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/magazine-archive/december-2009/food/bpa/overview/bisphenol-a-ov.htm

I found out that eden foods does not use BPA in their organic canned beans. Check it out here. Those are the ones I buy if I don't get dried beans.

I buy eden brand for most foods. Their website is very informative for consumers.

What do you think?
http://www.edenfoods.com/articles/view.php?articles_id=178

Same here Jessica. I always try to buy Eden Foods. I just wish the online store where I get my groceries delivered from carried Eden. Unfortunately, it's very heavy carrying home cans of food from the grocery store. If I really just can't do it, I order Westbrae from my online delivery (FreshDirect). The only canned items I use are beans and tomatoes.

Jessica Thanks for sharing the Eden Foods info--the more I learn about that company the more I like them.  I checked out the link and Catgirl if you did not already know the tomato cans are not BPA free according to the Eden website.  I use canned tomatoes too and I wonder does anyone have any alternative suggestions.  Do diced/whole tomatoes come jarred I wonder?  I don't know how realistic it is for me to use only fresh  .  . .

This Bisphenol thing has got my knickers in a twist. I can't believe that they're putting that crap in our food still in this day and age.

 Thank you for the link, I'm going to fine a source for Eden foods.

What I've found reading up on some macrobiotic "philosophy", is that all our food contains sort of a "life force" or energies. And the best way to get those energies into our bodies is with the freshest, preferably local and in season veggies. And avoiding processed foods including canned and frozen as much as possible. Because any of these methods decreases those energies and modifies the food in some way. And canned food often has a lot of salt, so if you do use the canned beans, give them a rinse. But these are mere suggestions, and each person should tailor the diet to meet their own needs, financially, and time spent. And any effort to decrease consumption of animal products deserves a pat on the back.

thanks for posting the bpa info - I had no idea!  thankfully I by coincidence just happen to buy mostly eden canned beans....but every now and then pick up another organic brand without thinking or if they are on sale - no more!  I think its so great the committment eden is showing that I will now always buy their products!  I've been wanting to phase the nightshades outta my diet, and the news about canned tomatoes just took care of that for me!  although when heirloom tomatoes come into my local farmers market that will all go out the window for a month or two....

Ann I guess that is a good way to look at it . . . I have been trying to reduce nightshades consumption and I guess if  I just stick to yummy local in season tomatoes that would not be so bad!

Are Eden products sold at Stop and Shop or  Shaws? 

Ann, I know what you mean, my husband and I would sometimes go for a "lesser" brand, but one day we decided to put more value on our health. If I can't find organic fruit, I generally just wait until I can find some. I used to just say, oh I'll just get the value oranges for now. But the thing is, if I am eating chemicals, I think it kind of negates the value of the good stuff in the fruit. If someone offered me an orange with a teaspoon of chemicals I wouldn't take it, even though the orange part was ok. Thats just what we decided. I thought of getting jarred foods, but I read that sometimes even the jar lid can have BPA! I love Eden foods too. 

Patty do you live in Maine?  I live in ME and found Eden products at Hannaford, but they seem to be a little more expensive at hannaford compared to Whole Foods so I only buy canned produce from Hannaford in a pinch.  FYI in case you were looking . . . The Hannaford in Gorham, ME carries Kombucha squash!