I confess: despite the warnings that we should avoid plastic food containers, I have continued to store most of my fruits and vegetables in plastic zip-top bags. They keep produce crisp, take up little additional space in the refrigerator, and can be washed and reused to reduce waste. However, the desire to go completely plastic-free (for both health and environmental reasons) has been nagging at me, so I was interested to see this guide from Washington's Green Grocer and the Berkeley Farmer's Market on How to Store Vegetables/Fruit Without Plastic.
The guide includes 60 fruits and vegetables from artichokes to zucchini. Some of these, like onions and potatoes, I already keep outside the refrigerator and away from plastic, but I was particularly interested in tips for produce like arugula ("Place in an open container, wrapped with a dry towel to absorb any extra moisture") and green beans ("They like humidity, but not wetness. A damp cloth draped over an open or loosely closed container"). Who knew that so many foods could be stored in open containers?
The guide doesn't offer specific suggestions for containers, but these glass ones come to mind. One problem with containers, however, is they take up more refrigerator space. I was thinking of storing some fruits and vegetables loose in the crisper drawers, covered with a towel, until I remembered that the drawers themselves are made of plastic!
Do you have any experience or tips for storing produce without plastic?
• Read more & print out a sheet to stick on your fridge: How to Store Vegetables/Fruit Without Plastic at Washington's Green Grocer
Related: Plastic-Free Food Storage Alternatives
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I currently can't offer any info on the other issues surrounding plastic, but anyone with concerns about BPA absolutely NEEDS to read this:
http://blogs.forbes.com/trevorbutterworth/2011/07/25/majestically-scientific-federal-study-on-bpa-has-stunning-findings-so-why-is-the-media-ignoring-it/
I agree with that nagging feeling of using plastic... or worse throwing it away after use.
Trying to go paper towel free at the moment. This is a good thing to do next. Thanks!
www.culdesackid.com
If you're worried about the plastic in your crisper drawers, couldn't you cover the bottom (and maybe sides, somehow) of the drawer with a towel? At least the veggies won't be touching the plastic. My mom always lined the bottom of her drawers with paper towels to provide a little bit of cushion so there's less bruising, so there's another potential benefit.
@ny2midmo - Thanks for the link. It was an interesting read. Personally I've not been all that concerned about dietary BPA, but it was interesting to read that it's not as cut-and-dried as some make it out to be.
Still, though, plastic is an environmental concern (it's not biodegradable so once we make it, it's around forever), which is enough reason for me to avoid plastic and re-use what I have. :)
Thank you for this post!
I like bringing fruits and veggies to work (small scale) in WasteNot Saks:
http://www.etsy.com/shop/WasteNotSaks
They are reusable (machine or hand washable) and contain no BPA, PVC, etc, besides just plain being cute!!
I wouldn't be surprised if someone messaged the seller, if she wouldn't be willing to whip up a custom order of larger, say, gallon-sized saks.
I don't know if all peruvian households do it this way, but in my house, fruit and veg has always been stored wrapped in paper towel and then inside a plastic ziploc bag. It stays crunchu, and the food doesnt actually touch the plastic of the bag or the fruit & veg drawer. Of course, this only sollves one of the problems, the environmental problem of using plastic is still there. But you may want to try it as a first step!
I guess I need to learn the importance of the PREVIEW COMMENT button. Sorry for the spelling mistakes above! :) But you get the message.
My farmers' market offers biodegradable produce bags, which are great. You can also use cellophane. I use flour sack cloth to bundle a lot of veggies.
I will definitely use some of theirsugestions, but I like cold fruit. I can't keep those on the counter.
The entire housing of the inside of a refrigerator is plastic :(
Has anyone tried these bags yet? http://amzn.to/qb7n1S I don't know if they would do the trick.
I've always lined my fridge drawers with tea towels, then I leave most of my veggies loose.
Just think back to what folks did before the advent of plastic-everything, they used a bowl to store foods in and set a salad or dinner plate on top of it, I still do that now as often as I can and when I need more of an airtight seal (or moisture absorber) I either put paper towel or flour sack towel between the bowl and the plate. For long or bulky vegetables that need to be refrigerated they're in a lasagna pan lined with a flour sack towel and the pan is covered with a jellyroll pan (I have those in 2 sizes so can almost always find one that 'fits'). As I can afford to, add to my fancy*ss kitchen storage, I'm buying the refrigerator glassware (which comes with a lid) at Crate & Barrel. So far I have 4 pieces but even 4 pieces helps me cut down severely on my use of plastics.
And for my 2 cents, items not easily or currently recyclable should carry a hefty tax to discourage their use.
Years ago, I learned from my MIL to line the bottom of my crisper drawers, as well as my garbage cans, with a few layers of newspaper.
Then I recently visited my own parents and noticed that my mother wraps all her greens really tightly in newspapers/cut up brown paper bags (she's way too frugal for paper towels here!) and then a kitchen towel. These stay amazingly fresh for weeks. Meanwhile all our loose veg and herbs keep happily in various fine mesh reusable bags.
I also save "good" plastic mesh bags from fruits/veg packaging to reuse for storage. There are some that are also perfect for keeping balls of yarn under control when I knit.
I just store my fruits and vegetables in the cripser drawers of my fridge. Potatoes, garlic, onions, leeks and such I store in the pantry. No extra plastic or paper towel; I just wipe the fridge every other weekend or so before I put in the new stuff from market.
Good suggestions here. I can't wait to try the newspaper/brown paper bag ideas!
@NY2MIDMO - Thanks for the link. Interesting stuff.
Newspaper ink does come off and would transfer to your produce. You can usually buy end rolls from the newspaper for very cheap. Kids also love these to color on.
Tea towel in the bottom of the crisper drawer with produce in the reusuable bags we use at the farmer's market or grocery store. The key here is organization and rotation.
Oh. Looks like I've been doing things wrong. I put fruits or vegetables with thick peels in the fridge as is, and let the chips fall where they may. Other fruit & veg I just wrap loosely in a plastic bag (the kind I'll use later as a garbage bag) and stick in the fridge. Some veggies, like beets and broccoli, I'll cut up and store in the fridge in airtight plastic containers.
So far this has worked for me but I generally use up my fruit & veg within three days of buying them.
This isn't helpful for bulky produce, but I always save glass jars (and plastic containers, admittedly) for food storage rather than recycling them.
I use mason jars for a lot of my storage needs. Sure they don't fit big things but they can perfectly portion out berries, veggies and salad greens and fit nicely in my crisper drawer. I can grab one in the morning and have fresh berries for my yogurt at work. Everything else just gets tossed in the drawer. Onions & garlic are in their own bowl while lemons, limes, apples, bananas and oranges are in another. My potatoes go in a crock on the floor that stays pretty dark and keeps them cool and dry.
I try not to use filmy plastic (like grocery store bags), since they are not usually recyclable. So when I put my produce in the fridge, I first remove them from any bags, and then cover the bottom of the crisper with a cloth and then cover the veggies with another cloth. Seems to help keep the extra dampness off of my veggies and stops them from getting icky after a few days.
This is a bit off the topic, but I hate it at the grocery store when they put all the fresh produce into individual bags -- so two shallots, one lemon and three oranges all go into separate bags... crazy. Now I carry my own ziploc bags for herbs (that go straight in the fridge when I get home) and other things get just the stickers.
But did you check the number on the bins? The shelving is marked with a number, if it's one through seven it's made with BPA and so it's best foods not touch the plastic, otherwise it's not made with BPA.
I use the old-fashioned square and rectangular covered refrigerator jars/canisters, you can get them at places like Crate & Barrel, and since they're squared off they stack & fit neatly inside a fridge - just put a paper or linen or cotton towel piece inside to help control moisture - but generally for leftovers I put them in a mixing bowl and top it with a salad plate. Works like a charm and if you find the right pairing of bowl/plate it's as airtight as any plastic bag might be (tip: those zipper-style bags aren't as airtight as we think!).
I do like my grandmother does. I wrap all my veggies loosely in newspapers and put them in the fridge. And I peel them over the newspaper. I never have an issue with ink coming off on the produce. Most of my fruit I leave in a large bowl on my counter, which also helps to get it perfectly ripe. And the delicate items I leave in bowls or glass containers in my fridge. It also helps to keep my fridge organized. I got a few old-fashioned Pyrex glass containers from eBay and they're super practical, and I'm also a big fan of the Ziploc glass containers with silicon seal on the lids. I find them at the Ralph's here in Los Angeles.
BPA warnings are a joke. Other plastics are even worse and they're never mentioned. I have to wonder how people survived before all these wasteful modern gadgets. So your fruit may smell like the fridge, so what? Leave it in the fruit drawer or in an open pyrex and keep the fridge clean.
I also put most of my produce directly in the crisper. I noticed years ago that salad greens in particular seem to rot faster in those grocery store plastic bags (moisture gets stuck in there) and I almost never use them at the grocery store either - I certainly don't see the need to bag bell peppers, citrus or broccoli.
I generally only buy what produce I need for the next couple of days :) Storage is less of a problem then. The farmers' market is conveniently located on my route home so it's easy enough to stop when I need fresh vegetables, meat or fish.
I just put my produce in the crisper.
okay, so i accept that the inside of the fridge is plastic & there is nothing i can do about that (besides get rid of the fridge). so with the given in mind, i just control what i can.
about 5 years ago i started using Muslin bags for my produce. i found some sold on Etsy - just search on Muslin Produce on their site. i realized they were just pillowcase type bags with a draw string. i had some Muslin laying around from beginning, self-taught sewing & made up 2 sets of whatever i needed. that way, a set could be holding the last few remnants of fruit/veggies & i have a set to take to the grocery with me to stock back up. i have not used grocery plastic (in particular the produce plastic) in almost 5 years. and get this......my lettuce, stored in the crisper in these Muslin bags, has lasted almost 4 weeks at times when maybe i went on vaca & obviously could not eat it. my lettuce has NEVER wilted since using these bags, no matter how long it's in the crisper! best idea ever! i've since read something about the fabric & the air flow it allows is what keeps produce fresh longer.
oh, and for my drawstring, i used different color gross-grain ribbon so visually i know what each bag is for. green ribbon for green leaf lettuce, brown for my red leaf, red for tomatoes, etc. i would get funny looks from the clerks at first, but now they think it is a great idea!
Yes, when I want unbiased health information I always got to Forbes, the magazine of rich businessmen.
The science on BPA is still coming together, but what we know so far isn't encouraging. There many other chemicals, particularly endocrine disruptors, that leach from plastic.
I wouldn't run around like my hair is on fire, but what the environmental and health groups recommend is very sound:
1. Reduce your exposure, which reduces your risks no matter what the science ends up being on each individual chemical of concern.
2. Help push for safer products at the industrial level and better safety testing processes so buying things doesn't require each individual person to do a bunch of research.
Helpful links:
www.healthylegacy.org/
http://safecosmetics.org/
http://www.ewg.org/bodyburden/consumerproducts
Back "in the day" they made glass refrigerator storage containers for lots of specific produce, and you can still find them at flea markets and antique shops. Usually heavy glass with loose fitting glass covers, rectangular, in different sizes.
I use these reusable mesh produce bags:
http://www.amazon.com/flip-tumble-5-Pack-Reusable-Produce/dp/B002UXQ7QQ/ref=sr_1_1?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1339255516&sr=1-1
I take them to the store and put fruits and veggies in them instead of grocery-store plastic bags. I refrigerate washed fruit and veggies in the same bags that have been laundered. So convenient. They protect the produce but let it breathe, too.