To think "big" weekly shops just don't work anymore (produce freshness)

[necromumda]

Do you find fruit and vegetables are spoiling really quickly these days, compared to the past? I've tried a few of the supermarkets and have come to the conclusion that , if you want fruit and veg to stay fresher for longer, a few shops a week is the best. Goodbye to the big weekly shop?

We tend to do a big weekly shop for basics (household goods and cupboard fare) and then use the independent village shops as and when for the likes of meat, fish and veg. It works well as we want to support the indies and their food is nicer. Only problem would be if you're on a tight budget as it is pricier.

Keep things in the fridge but I agree that some stuff isn't meant to last for ages.

i agree,

i have an asda online delivery 1x week

then fruit/veg & a few extras every 2-3 days
plus weekend meat from butchers.

We do online shop weekly for cupboard and frozen items then buy fruit and veg in store, that way you can choose the fresher items. When we used to buy fruit and veg online I found they always sent the produce that was nearest to being past its best. We also grow fruit and veg in the garden (a lot in pots) to supplement and reduce the cost of soft fruit consumption by the kids. Our fridge also has humidity control veg drawers that help it last longer.

saying that my mum went on holiday and after 10 days i realised she hadn't cleared the fridge. She had a bag of lettuce amongst other things that were all completely fine.

I'm now wondering if the fridge has a lot more to do with keeping things fresh (hers is new and top of the range) than i had appreciated.

We shop online (Morrisons) but I mostly buy dried, tinned food etc. Sometimes we order large fruit like watermelon etc, as we don't have a car. We also buy all the large items of non-food stuff online - loo roll, laundry detergent etc. Fresh stuff such as soft fruit & veg, anything with shorter shelf life (cheese, fresh meat) we walk down to buy 2-3 times per week. For some stuff I scour the discount stores, can be cheaper for beans & tinned fush etc.

Milk comes from a milkman, but we used to order that too. It was often short dated though, which was why we jumped at the chance of delivery as the alternative was carrying 12 pints a week home nearly 2 miles on foot.

People never used to shop just once per week, and in many countries they still don't. It's convenience over quality - which turns out to be inconvenient when you've nothing fresh towards the end of the week.

I think it’s because our houses are too warm and insulated, isn’t it? Fresh stuff would have been kept in the larder which would be cold (but not as cold as a fridge, which is surely too cold for a lot of stuff) and dark. Spuds should be covered in mud and only cleaned when you’re using them.

Supermarket tomatoes never go off IME, in fact it’s a miracle if they ever properly ripen! Always as hard as a bullet and impossible to skin.

I bought some strawberries in Tesco recently and they lasted far longer than the ones I usually get in Sainsbury’s.

Yep take them out of the plastic apart from a rare time I forget. Don't have anywhere properly dark as small kitchen means very few cupboards so they're in a corner away from the window to avoid sunlight which is the best we can do.

We didn't think of this sort of thing when we moved in but it was a toss up between small kitchen and decent garden or large kitchen and no garden. Definitely something we'll be considering when we're thinking of moving again. Maybe we should just eat rice and pasta until then.

Agh. Tinned fish. WTF does my tablet think fush is, anyway!? I swear it's out to get me...

Shopping for fresh fruit and veg two or three times a week is normal, surely? Plus it’s been unusually hot recently.

I must admit I never really buy much fruit and veg in the online shop. I'm really lucky as there is a small fruit & veg market near where I live and I can pick up seasonal stuff cheaply which seems to last longer. We have a veg section in our fridge which is not as cold as the actual fridge.

One thing I have noticed - Morrisons have recently switched to paper bags for all loose produce, following customer feedback. It's just occurred to me, we've not had anything go mushy or mouldy since they swapped, we just leave in the paper bags in the fridge. (Might be more convenient if we labelled things though.) We regularly used to find something that had gone soggy in just a couple of days becase the shopping bags had just been decanted into the fridge, plastic wrapping & all.

Buy the stayfresh bags from Lakeland, fruit and veg stay fresh for ages.

I’ve been researching how best to store fruit and veg in the fridge for just this very reason. Previously I just put stuff in the fridge and expected it to last.
Now I wash raspberries and put them in a Tupperware box lined with kitchen towel with the lid off, NOT un the chiller section.
Carrot batons, I put in a Tupperware box filled with water to cover them in the chiller section.
Both are a faff, but lasting much longer.

Thanks for tip re. Lakeland, cup of tea, I have a voucher i might use

I buy LOTS of bagged greens. They don't last long and I find it hard to find anywhere that sells them any other way.

You need teenagers! No food lasts long enough in my fridge to go off

We top up our fresh stuff approx every 3 days

Problem is often dates on stuff are quite short and no allowance is made if expiry is 2 days or more. We shop online for delivery 2/3 times a week (Sainsbury’s & Waitrose & Asda). Gave up on Tesco after constant (every single shop) inappropriate substitutions and outdated items.

I only shop once a week as my nearest supermarket (Tesco) is a 20 mile round trip.
I’ve never found a problem with fruit and veg staying fresh well beyond its sell by dates. I have fresh blackberries and bilberries in my porridge daily, and they’re good all week. Kos lettuce keeps for over a fortnight in the fridge, ditto on the vine tomatoes. Greens, beans, broccoli, cut herbs etc all last over a week. I stick potatoes and onions in a cold dark cupboard and they last a month.
Tesco used to have the opposite problem, with their fruit never ripening, but that’s another story!

We use Ocado and I'm really impressed that we always get a week out of all our fruit and veg. I wonder if it's because it's not displayed in store? Even stuff like bagged spinach and lettuce keeps really well. I did try using Aldi for a while but thought the quality was appalling in comparison.

Agree Aldi stuff stays fresher too.

Like hell it does. Aldi stuff doesn’t last whatsoever.

River Tam i agree i live in a flat and during the heatwave potatoes were keeping for 2 to 3 days.

its impossible to keep everything in the fridge.

Our HA put cavity wall insulation in TWICE.

Eating healthily was impossible during that heatwave unless i was prepared to food shop every day and spend more money. So it also works out as more expensive.

As our climate is getting warmer something will have to be done about it.

Cavity wall insulation was a huge mistake for some homes.

www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/property/11485758/Cavity-wall-insulation-crisis-may-hit-three-million-homes.html

I agree with Ocado. I get a delivery every week and all my veg lasts.
I swear by Lakelands potato and onion storage bags.

I don't find this at all, but then I make a big difference between 'fresh' and 'spoilt'.

Potatoes and onions are thrown together in a cottom bag and left in the dark - they last weeks. Some potatoes may go soft, but are still perfectly edible.

All other veg goes in the fridge - out of bags, tomatoes with all green bits removed (that is what ripens them) and even things like lettuce can - stored properly - last a few days without wilting. Look up storage like your (grand-)parents did it.

As for fruit, some fruit ripens even after having been picked, so don't store your apples and bananas with ripe peaches or the peaches will go moldy. On the other hand, if you buy the 'ripen at home' stuff then that is exactly what you want.

Really, it's not that difficult to keep fruit and veg fresh and if any is in danger of not being used immediately, throw it in the freezer to use later in the week - also works well for meats.