Do plastic produce bags extend the shelf life of produce in the refrigerator? Alternative suggestions?
Do plastic produce bags extend the shelf life of produce in the refrigerator? Alternative suggestions?
When I first began zero waste, I would either use mesh produce bags or no bag to store my produce in my refrigerator. For the most part I was able to use everything before any of it would spoil.
Since moving in with my partner, she prefers to store our produce in thick, reusable plastic bags. She likes to keep a large variety of produce on hand to encourage more variety in our diets. And so it is not as easy to consume everything before some of the produce begins to spoil. She is under the impression that plastic bags extend the shelf life of certain produce. Unfortunately the frequent cleaning & drying required to keep these plastic bags fresh can be time consuming. I’d like to simplify these processes.
appreciate any input regarding convenient ZeroWaste methods for improving produce shelf life. Do most get by fine without use of produce bags?
It's always been my experience that they make the veggies go soggy and rotten quicker. I too am interested in some life hacks here.
Besides the bags, some vegetables produce ethylene even after being picked. It's a hormone that ripens most produce.
If you keep the ethylene producing fruit separate, the other produce won't ripen as fast.
Have a Google search on the topic, it's an interesting topic and an easy tip.
Same experience as Dr Wesker, I think most things need a bit of "air" to keep worst anaerobic bacteria at bay. Why not a bowl with a kitchen cloth on top, nothing tight? That's what I do with fresh stuff (if cooked, sealed containers)
But even thus the fridge environment is not always ideal, I feel like loads of stuff (exept with this summer heat) lasts longer outside of it (wooden basket with cloth on top 😄 )
For example potatoes: never in the fridge
Tomatoes, if they're good they'll last months outside as well
I my experience, certain things like peppers really benefit from being in a plastic bag. I usually wrap those items in cloth, and then put them in a plastic bag. Same thing with cucumbers, but I put a piece of tin foil over the cut end, since I rarely use a whole cucumber quickly. I also put cut citrus in plastic bags. I will say though that it may make certain items spoil faster if you don't also wrap them in a cloth since the bag traps moisture. For some items though, if they're better sealed in some kind of vessel, you might be able to try using Tupperware as a compromise, since Tupperware/jars are much easier to wash on a regular basis.
I'm in the process of finding ways of reducing how much waste I produce myself, and am somewhat early on in the process. But plastic bags have definitely been difficult for me to cut out in some some instances. Tupperware and jars are the solution I'm trying to increasingly move over to where possible.
You may also find it useful to look into the specifically reusable bags, as those may be easier to clean and dry, or wax paper, which functionally a bit like cling wrap, and is another way of sealing things if you find a certain kinds of produce benefits from that.
You may also find it worthwhile to do some little experiments where you store some of a given kind of produce multiple ways, since that could really help inform what works best for you in the future. It would mean taking up more space, so you'd probably only wanna try one produce with two storage methods at a time, but it might yeild interesting and useful results, while also potentially reducing any social unease from not trusting that one storage method is good enough- I know for me sometimes habit or the way I'm used to doing things can be hard to break.
Generally the bags need holes to prevent moisture buildup.
Here’s a good guide…
https://www.heart.org/en/healthy-living/healthy-eating/add-color/produce-storage-infographic
In general, my rule of thumb is how it is stored at the grocers is how you should store it at home.
In a plastic bag in refrigeration at the grocer's? Same at home. Room temp and naked at the grocer's? Same at home. Etc.
ive found that plasic bags increase spoilage. but they do contain it. i use paper bags now sometimes, they keep the produce dryer. some stuff like tender herbs i wrap in barely damp paper but still keep in loose bags