Are bagged salads really so unhealthy?

[Kumquatsquash]

I eat a bag of salad a day. Those huge family sized bags from Lidl and Aldi. I've just read that because the leaves are washed and gassed with chlorine that they have almost no nutritional value. It also said they contain far more pesticides and preservatives to keep the leaves looking fresh for longer. Then there's the plastic bag they come in, the water used to wash them, the carbon footprint or transport, etc

It's almost impossible to eat healthy nowadays. I gave up almond milk because the industry is killing off the bees. All vegetables that don't cost a fortune are grown in artificial light and sprayed with round up apparently. On a positive note, if I have to start growing my own organic fruit and veg I'll finally lose weight as I can kill plants by just looking at them.

Oh dear, I didn't know any of this about bagged salad. I don't even like it, but eat under sufferance to be healthy. I guess we should be eating mashed swede, roasted turnip etc to be seasonal, local and healthy (?) but I can only do so much of that before I end up buying something that's been flown in from Kenya

It's really tricky isn't it. We are trying to go mostly veggie but I read an article the other day that some heated poly tunnel grown veg is as bad as beef for emissions

We signed up for a local community veg scheme which has been super fun for the kids (they are so bored that a trip out to pick up the veg and check what's in the swap box is ultra exciting). It's a lot of cabbage in there though, it's going to be a harder sell getting them to eat it!

At least that way I know that it's organic and seasonal. It's reasonably priced, probs because we get all the knobbly veggies!

I’m in trouble then! Like you I eat them everyday (well did before lock down, had to swap to whole veg to make it last a whole week until the next shop.)
I figure there could be worse, it can’t be much worse than a ham sandwich.

I only buy bagged rocket and similar but not for me, I live with someone that won't eat lettuce leaves.

What puts me off is being served a pub salad made of a mix of leaves and blackfly, more than once.

Unless you buy organic you will be buying stuff that has been sprayed or treated. I hate the taste of wax on some apples, mostly it isn't noticeable but sometimes it is, and it annoys me that unwaxed lemons cost more than waxed.

Root veg contains chemicals that have been sprayed on to them while growing and from the soil.

I am at a stage where I will just buy what I can find now, due to the way we have to queue to buy anything at all. But not bagged leaves.

I'm not keen on salad leaves, we have salad tomato cucumber red pepper which must be as healthy? And is just more normal iyswim. Easy to get, can buy loose etc

Watercress is also lush and I'm very fond of beetroot (not the pickled stuff though!).

I've never got the hang of salad leaves tbh. They're bitter and small and I don't get it. I don't like lettuce much either tbf.

Yup. I'd just eat chocolate bars if I were you, to be on the safe side!

I love my salad leaves! I can eat them raw straight out of the bag. I don't think I've ever seen an organic salad bag?

The lettuce selection in the UK is terrible. Tasteless iceburg lettuce that tastes like my 80s childhood or those tiddly Romain hearts that I would need 5 of to make a salad. I used to buy huge heads of lettuce from the farmers' markets in Spain that were crisp, fresh and so tasty. Or bunches of rocket.

I realise there are bigger problems in the world than chemical salad bags

I started making my own salad leaves out of green crêpe paper left over from Christmas.
Probably as nutritous as that bagged stuff from a supermarket but a whole lot more fun.

My God you can't eat anything any more. I've had to stop reading the toddler eating section as every time my kids start eating something I read how shite it is for them.

Oh I didn’t know this! We eat bagged salad leaves and I eat bagged baby spinach with almost every meal!

Salad in the UK is very seasonal I think!

Can't really compare what we grow here well to Spain. How are their turnips

We grew some in the summer though the cut and come again mixed stuff and actually I didn't mind it. It was much sweeter and tastier than the bagged stuff.

Can you grow it indoors on a window sill? I mean I don't actually know

I don't think I've ever seen an organic salad bag?

Waitrose do Dutchy Organic salad bags.

Typical MN though. Unless you have actually grown it yourself and it’s devoid of any joy then it’s unhealthy.

The War Of The Spanish Turnip sounds like a missing episode of Blackadder II

Where did you read this?

I just googled and saw those Duchy salad bags. We don't have a Waitrose round these parts, and even if we did I couldn't afford them!

I guess I'll have to develop a taste for turnips and swede. I did try growing my own cherry tomatoes last summer. I really recommend it if you'd like to waste £100 and about 15 hours of labour for a handful of mediocre tomatoes.

@user1174147897

Where did you read this?

I don't remember where I first saw it, probably Facebook. But then went off and googled it and it does seem to be at least half true.

Hmmm, where did you read this? Because a lot of nonsense gets written, especially regarding food!
I can guarantee the bag of salad you eat every day is healthier than the sharing bag if crisps I ate today

Btw, to the pp complaining that waxed lemons are cheaper than unwaxed... that's because waxed lemons last longer than unwaxed, so they can be stored for longer and there is more time to transport them to the shops and sell them. The shorter the window between picking and eating, the more expensive the fruit (which is one of the reasons berries are expensive).

Our tomatoes are always rubbish.

I was sceptical about the salad leaves but they were pretty good.

Oh FFS even salad isn't healthy now?

We are trying to do a lot of soup with seasonal veg at the moment but I can't have that every day.

I also don't know how to make salad without using bagged leaves

Oh dear, is this true for Spinach?

Can you swap for kale, its very good for you, no prep and In season now 👍 Vine tomatoes, cucumber, red pepper, carrot. Maybe make coleslaw, cabbage, carrot, apple, raisins.

Growing your own salad leaves is easy, much easier than toms. You can get organic salad bags but I've only seen them at Waitrose.

It’s easy to grow salad. I assume as my neighbours have loads. Personally I can’t be bothered.

I got a nice lettuce with roots attached in a cardboard box from Ocado, I think the brand is called tenderleaves. You give it a little water and it stays perfectly fresh for days.

edition.cnn.com/2018/03/02/health/salad-nutrients-food-drayer/index.html

I wouldn't worry too much about it. Should still be plenty of nutritional value in them. Just make sure you store them in the fridge and wash them properly. They can give you a nasty bout of food poisoning if you aren't careful.

Facebook? A source that can only dream of meeting the low and unreliable standards of a DM piece?