When Not to Eat Your Greens

Dorothy H. in Racine, Wisconsin, writes:

Is fruit that is picked early as nutritious as fruit that is picked when it’s ripe?

Marilyn responds:

Not if you eat it before it ripens. (Unripe fruit is less nutritious.) But if you let the fruit ripen, it won’t matter when it was picked. A more significant consideration is how the fruit was handled on its way from the farm to the grocer before it arrived in your kitchen.