Which one would you choose?

Yes, yes, all good to buy loose vegetables, but you do need to read the labels.

The ‘sweet stem broccoli’ (broccolini), grown in New Zealand, is packed in a plastic zipper bag. Although the bag can be rinsed and reused, you might prefer the unwrapped ‘broccolini’. That’s what I went for, until I read the label. The loose product was imported from Australia. That adds at least another day in travel time from grower to customer in New Zealand, and also travel miles (I’m not getting at my Aussie cousins – I expect you all to be equally sharp and choose your local product over imported.)

The broccolini in the zipped bag looked fresher than the loose stuff, but in the end I went with a head of unwrapped New Zealand-grown broccoli, perky, compact, verdant and fresh, and half the price.

More about broccoli here Broccoli