Anyone throwing out a lot of fruit/veg?

[Boujibroke]

I used to shop at Tesco. Switched to Aldi as we were fed up of food not lasting and needing binned. Just the same problem with Aldi

Anyone else noticed this?

Not sure what to do about it really. Annoyed at the waste (although my compost heap is well fed) and pissed off at the waste of money.

Ours are pretty good actually, except mushrooms. They seem to be past their best in a day or two after delivery, but everything else keeps for ages. I shop between Asda delivery, Aldi and occasionally Tesco. All of them are pretty good now but several years ago stuff from Asda didn’t last at all. I think it depends on which distribution warehouse they start off from these days

We find we’re throwing more out now that they’ve got rid of best before dates, because there’s no way of knowing if it’s coming to the end of its life. For example, we may have two packs of tomatoes - there’s no way of knowing which one should be open first, it’s like a roulette.

@thebellagio that's a good point. I never thought about the no dates and what would be needing used up first. It's such a pain.

@AThickLayerOfLard I've just binned a whole pack of mushrooms plus a lot of other stuff. It could be the warehouse situation. Makes my blood boil as the supermarket have there money but there goes my recipes.

Lakeland Stayfresh bags are your friend - they really do work!

Do you decant food into them?

Just look, squeeze, taste to see if they are edible, if a bit squishy for your taste, make a tomato sauce or throw them in a stew. Or use a sharpie and write on the date of purchase

Just a thought op, do you tear open the plastic bags as soon as you get home? We rip a hole in straight away so they don’t sweat or get condensation. Wee also keep pretty much everything in the fridge, but we have done all that for years anyway.

I don't actually, didn't know about that little trick. Thank you much appreciated.I will try it out.

We keep everything in the fridge due to flies and fruit flies (live beside farms)

Ready prepared bagged salads are just a bag of slimy rotten leaves these days. Tesco or Sainsbury's.

We grow tomatoes. They still need using at different times just buy looking and feeling, despite when picked

If you have two packets I would open both, rinse and go through them to actually see. Keep the less ripe ones in the fridge to slow down ripening more, and the ones ready to eat on a bowl on the side. They taste far better at room temperature

As @AThickLayerOfLard says open the bag a little and as @VanCleefArpels says use Lakeland bags if they come loose. I cut a lemon into tiny wedges and squeeze each to break out the juice before putting it in the bag. This will extend the life of most things by a week.

@thebellagio many supermarkets are still date coding but in a concealed way.

Obviously I don’t know where you shop but I have worked out the M&S & Sainsburys codes. There is also info online for Tesco / Morrisons.

I think the Supermarkets are relying on us not searching out the info, so they can pass on the costs of waste to uninformed customers.

That is really unreasonable, especially if a package is sealed so you cant feel / smell the produce. My stance a.t.m is no information = no purchase and increased farm shop purchases.

I've noticed this for the past year or so. Any fruit and veg, even though I keep it in fridge, is just crap after a couple of days. Don't remember the last time I bought a cucumber and it didn't go off the day after I used it😠

I’m finding carrots and onions are not lasting anywhere near as long actually asked my dh did he think it was our fridge. Nothing else lasts long enough to know!

I've noticed bananas and raspberries are going off very quickly. Despite washing the raspberries and storing them in a proper fruit container, they are mouldy after a few days. I'm not buying them any more for now. I can't afford to throw them away.

Bananas I just buy less of now, once they are gone I'll buy more, but all of us eat one a day pretty much so I seem to be buying them every other day 😂

@Lovestodrinkmilk same with spinach 🤮

@Caspianberg I tried to grow tomatoes this year. Unfortunately something went wrong and they didn't work.

I'm finding the opposite. Bagged salads are lasting well over a week. Ditto spinach which I used to have to plan carefully to use a day or so after shopping but now seems to last forever.

@Tremblingmadness thanks for this information. I wish we had a farm shop near us.

@Devilsmommy yes to the mushy cucumbers 🤮

@confusedmum2023 I bought carrots, onions to make soup and stews. Out they went.

@loveulotslikejellytots I keep the raspberries in the container that they come in. They turn mushy and mouldy really quickly. Lol at your daily banana shop 🤣

I have the empty 2l ice cream containers in my veg drawer, and everything is taken out of the packaging and into a container for each item. So tomatoes , peppers, mushrooms etc each are in their own tub uncovered. I line them with kitchen roll. I find I use them up better this way as I can see everything better. Carrot and that type of veg are loose in the drawer. The older items are put on top to be used first.

Onions are not kept in the fridge but they should keep for ages, I never find I have to throw out onions.

I don't think we have ever had use by dates for fruit and veg (I'm not in UK), but I wouldn't go by that anyway. It's clear to the eye what is still ok to use.

And I only buy what I need now. And what is in season. It's just too costly otherwise and I say that from a cheaper fruit and veg country.

Things that are going to be soft and floppy soon will be used up in soup, stew, saucy type meals. Sometimes I cook them up for my dogs so I try hard not to waste.

@isthismylifenow thank you. I could try putting kitchen roll down and then emptying the fruit/veg onto it.

I do try to keep an eye on things and make soups, sauces etc if something is going soft etc. Maybe need to keep a closer eye on things as well and act quicker.

no

we store it appropriately (mostly in fridge) and meal plan based on how perishable items are.

I suggest never leaving berries unwashed. If just one is blemished it will rot the whole packet quickly in carton.
carefully wash all berries. Then lay spread out of tea towel to dry. Only then into a low container and fridge ( don’t stack high in say cereal bowl, low dish spread out better)

And yes we aren’t in uk, never seen use by dates on fruit or veg here

@Caspianberg thanks for that tip. Will try it out 😊

@greenacrylicpaint sounds like you have your shit together 🙃💐

Wrap a cucumber in clingfilm once you cut into it, air causes them to go off really quickly.

Bought salad leaves were terrible, I'm just running out of homegrown (a couple of packets of seeds has kept us in salad leaves since the spring), so back to the terrible or buy a whole cos lettuce nice and lasts really well.