fresh food

peej76

On grocery day last Thursday I bought some fruits and veggies, I was looking forward to getting back in the game and satisfying my cravings with good food instead of junk. As of Sunday, pretty much all of my healthy stuff was already rotten! My bananas are black, and my cucumbers are leaking yucky oozing green snot into my crisper! Do any of you have some tips for keeping fruits and veggies fresher longer? Or on how to pick the freshest produce from the grocery store?

peej76

On grocery day last Thursday I bought some fruits and veggies, I was looking forward to getting back in the game and satisfying my cravings with good food instead of junk. As of Sunday, pretty much all of my healthy stuff was already rotten! My bananas are black, and my cucumbers are leaking yucky oozing green snot into my crisper! Do any of you have some tips for keeping fruits and veggies fresher longer? Or on how to pick the freshest produce from the grocery store?

agralston

I don't know if you have King Soopers in your neck of the woods, but they have "Green Bags" for their produce. It is a regular plastic bag but releases the gasses that cause rotting. I REALLY helps in keeping produce fresher a lot longer. There is also an as seen on TV product called Grren bags.
https://www.greenbags.com, but i'm always weary of those ads.

keiley

I usually just take everything out of the bags... wash.... and keep it in the fridge in open containers (large bowls etc)... that way the gas is released ... also you should try and find local farmers markets... that way you know it is fresh (they are often less expensive too)

velixis

This might be overkill, but here it goes... Some plants produce a gas called ethylene when they ripen. Other plants are sensitive to ethylene gas, which makes them ripen faster. For example, bananas create and are also sensitive to ethylene gas. That means as they ripen, they give off ethylene, but then also take it in and ripen faster. Which is why a bunch of bananas might be just beginning to ripen one day, then the next time you look at them are all brown.

Here is a chart that shows how other produce is effected by the gas:
http://www.ethylenecontrol.com/about.html#How

This article also gives some guidelines:
http://www.vegetariantimes.com/resources/produce_storage_guide/

Finally, you want to make sure that most produce is stored correctly. If you wash the produce before you put it in your refrigerator then put it in a plastic bag inside the refrigerator, the moisture from the recent washing will make it decay faster. I printed out the following chart and have it hanging on my refrigerator.

http://www.uri.edu/ce/ceec/food/documents/fruitAndVegetableStorageChartFactSheet.pdf

It's tough to keep these little buggers from going bad before you get to eat them. I still have trouble sometimes, but knowing the stuff above has helped.

tilly6277

I also have wondered how to keep produce fresher for longer. I have always wondered if the infomercial green bags worked. I hate mushy bananas! :explode: