Day 55: How to Store Your Produce 101

I love the David Suzuki Foundation's "Queen of Green," Lindsay Coulter, she has so many great ideas on what the average person can do to be more "green."

One of her videos (available by sifting through youtube videos!) is about how to store produce. She estimates that the average Canadian household throws out about $600 worth of produce every year! Imagine what that looks like and the associated carbon cost! I think that is about what I spend on groceries for 5 months!

I was completely unaware of how different foods interacted with one another in the fridge until a recent conversation I had with my housemate. So, this post is related to my post from Day 38 about stopping food waste and is about how to store your produce to keep it fresh for longer and avoid food waste through spoilage!

Here are a few things to keep in mind:

1) Don't refrigerate things like onions, garlic or potatoes -they will last longer if they are kept out of the fridge and stored in a cool dark place (remember your Grandmother's or parent's root cellar or potato box?)

2) Did you know fruits like apples, avacados, pears, bananas, tomatoes and peaches emit ethylene gas, a repining agent? Therefore, they should not be stored in the fridge next to or in the same compartment as veggies like broccoli, eggplant, cucumbers, carrots, zucchini etc. as they will cause them to spoil more quickly. However, a cool thing about these "gas-emitters" is that if you have something that you need to ripen quickly just pop it into a brown paper bag with, say, a ripe banana to help it ripen faster! She also mentions that these gas emitters don't even really need to be refrigerated unless they are getting really ripe and you need to hang on to them for another day or two.

3) Tomatoes are very cold-sensitive and putting them in the fridge will cause them to go all grainy and mushy (gross) and it takes away the flavor. 

3) Fresh fruits and veggies are still "breathing" -so never put them in a plastic bag or something without air-circulation since that will cause them to go bad!

4) Don't wash anything or pull stems until you are ready to eat the produce! 

Lindsay Coulter and the David Suzuki Foundation have even produced a neat little sheet about how to store different foods and it is available on the DSF website (or click here to go directly to the sheet).

I think this a great and easy way to help reduce food waste, and it's something that can save you money!

What do you think -did you know about these tips before? I definitely never thought about storing different foods together and the chemical interactions that would occur!