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With the price of fruits and vegetables steadily rising, no one wants to waste money by throwing away food that has gone off or rotten. We started shopping at farmers markets buying the freshest seasonal produce that we could find.

With markets held every two weeks, we had to find ways to ensure that we had enough supplies to last until the next market, without wasting any food. To deal with this problem we came up with some suggestions to make fruits and vegetables last longer.

How long fruit and vegetables last depending on the local climate to some degree. Commercially we know that suppliers use all sorts of tricks to preserve fruits and vegetables including freezing, gassing and wax coating some produce. While that may preserve it does not do much to preserve the least consumption of fresh produce way nature intended.

1. Make a menu for the next two weeks, and only buy the food you need.

It is easy to make a list of the fruits and vegetables that you might need, but by having the meals planned, you ‘will see that you can have the right amount of raw materials, and some of the things you were thinking of buying can go on the list for the next shopping trip.

2. Proper selection of fruits and vegetables to last longer.

Many stores allow for self-service, so you can choose which fruits and vegetables are ripe now, or will ripen in a few days or even the next week. While yellow bananas may look tempting to buy, the green ones that are not quite ripe for much longer and will ripen the time. Select some yellow consumed shortly, and some yellow-green, and other green bananas.

Other vegetables fruits that ripen after picking are avocados, pears, apricots, peaches, plums, mangoes, honey dew melons, cantaloupes, and kiwis, can soften the table.

3. Storage of fruit.

soft fruit does not end with a high humidity environment. We store our soft fruit like strawberries in bed paper towel placed in a sealed plastic container in the fridge. The paper absorbs any excess moisture, extend the life of the fruit.

Apples, oranges, lemons and similar fruit can be kept on the table at the top of the fruit bowl for the family to eat. We can save some in the fridge to keep them longer in the summer in good weather.

Be aware that apples and some other fruits give off gas called ethylene that accelerates ripening in vegetables, so avoid putting them together with other fruit in the crisper drawers.

4. Storage of vegetables.

Some vegetables, like potatoes and onions are can be stored in a cool dry place. Generally, vegetables stay fresh when kept in a humid environment such as crisper drawer refrigerator. We put broccoli in a sealed plastic container lined with paper towels to absorb excess moisture.

We wash the lettuce, dry it thoroughly and put in an easy-seal green vegetables bag to keep it fresh and ready to serve sandwiches and salads. Again place the paper towel in the bag to absorb moisture and keep it crisp.

If you have not had a meal plan, make sure you keep your fruits and vegetables in easy sight, so when you open the fridge to see what’s there and hopefully it will remind you of what you should be eat next.

With a little planning, eating the tainted produce first and work your way through the other produce that week progresses. These are just some tips to make fruits and vegetables last longer.

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October 16th, 2015

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