#sellbydates

An overwhelming wall of bags has begun to dominate the produce department in supermarkets across the country.  The small pile of actual heads of lettuce dwindles as shoppers seem to inhale the bagged greens with abandon. Rarely do I see these absent-minded consumers eyeballing the contents or checking the “sell by” date. What?

The notion of regenerated cellulose with its low permeability (it “breathes”) as an ideal delivery medium for your healthful consumption of greens and other vegetables is barely a better than average idea. It may be great for cigars, but not fresh greens and vegetables. Although 100% biodegradable, the manufacturing bioproducts created in manufacturing cellophane have outsized environmental impact. They add to the unrelenting cycle of pollutants we have yet to remediate in any meaningful way.  

I hear people saying that time after time they end up throwing the bags away (unopened!) because they just didn’t get around to eating them until it was too late. Watery, flat and fetid bagged produce adds to the staggering 40% of food wasted in the U.S. alone.

Stalk Smarts: If you MUST buy bagged produce

When you first get home, remove the contents of the bag, pat it out on a couple of squares of paper towel, roll it all up and return to the light, highly recyclable, produce bag found at the market. Staving off the ravages of moisture will generally lengthen the usable life of your greens for the two to three days you need to consume them.