Minimise Your Waste & Keep Your Produce Fresh

Placing your fruits and vegetables in proper storage is the primary key to keeping produce fresh. We all know the look of a sorry bin of wasted strawberries, all sunken, dark and fuzzy.

Some of our produce preservation comes down to planning. It doesn’t pay to purchase produce you can’t use or preserve within a reasonable time.

Separate them!

Certain types of fruits and vegetables do not mix well in storage, as some emit ethylene, a gaseous hormone emitted by plants. Certain foods don’t do well with ethylene around and can spoil faster when stored near your ethylene-producing fruits and veggies inside the same compartment.

Your highest ethylene producers are apricots, cantaloupe, figs, honeydew, bananas, tomatoes, avocadoes, nectarines, peaches, pears and plums.

Fruits & veggies that like to CHILL out! (store these in your fridge)

Layered
In the fruit compartment you can safely store apples, apricots, rockmelon, figs and honeydew melon.

Unlayered
You should spread your blackberries, blueberries, raspberries and strawberries out into single layers to keep them from rotting at contact points where moisture gathers. For the same reason, do not wash them until ready for consumption.

Some of your vegetables will keep best in separate plastic bags. These include broccoli, lettuce, peas, cauliflower, carrots, peas, radishes and corn. Even green onions like to be stored cool and separate in the fridge.

Store this produce in a paper bag

Mushrooms and okra like their own space in paper bags. So do artichokes, asparagus, beets, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, cherries, grapes, green beans, lima beans, leeks, plums, spinach, summer squash, yellow squash and zucchini. Herbs collected fresh from the garden or received as part of your produce delivery are also best stored in paper bags.

Countertop warriors

Thanks to their hardier constitutions and external structure, some fruits and veggies stay fresh on the countertop. These include basil, cucumbers, eggplant, garlic, ginger, grapefruit, jicama, lemons, limes, mangoes, oranges, papayas, peppers, persimmon, pineapple, plantains, pomegranates and watermelon.

Squash and potatoes

Keep acorn squash, butternut squash, pumpkins, spaghetti squash, and winter squash in a cool, dry environment. Same goes for potatoes and sweet potatoes. Always keep onions and potatoes away from each other! They produce gases that make each other spoil.

A special case for apples…

Keep apples out of direct sunlight. They can be stored on the countertop, in an uncovered bowl or inside a bag with air holes. Many people like to store them in the refrigerator so that they stay cold and crisp.

Depending on timing…

Keep avocadoes, nectarines, peaches, pears and plums either on the counter or in the fridge depending on ripeness. Kiwi can be stored in both places as well.

More about ethylene

Understand that ethylene is, by itself, not harmful to your health. It is odourless and tasteless and has no adverse side effects on your body. But it does work as a food ripener and therefore works against keeping produce fresh. When you want food to ripen quicker, you can actually use ethylene to your advantage by pairing ethylene-producing foods with foods that need to ripen.