Worth a Thousand Words: Be a Good Parer
June 22nd, 2009 by Jonathan
Here’s my second foray into the glamorous world of food waste videos. If you listen closely (or at all), you’ll hear my boy add his three cents. (Sorry, there’s only so many takes when you’re cutting up produce…and the other one was worse!)
Discount Veggies from Jonathan Bloom on Vimeo.
I can understand why the store culled these items and put them on the discount rack. But, as you can see, they’re not trash.
I’ve started noticing the same store that sells these discounted bags of produce just throwing veggies in the trash cans out on the sales floor. This bugs me more than some other stores just dumping hundreds of pounds in the dumpster. I guess it’s because this store has shown that they know these items have value. But, through apathy, laziness, poor judgment or a combination of all three, some of the produce guys are just tossing them in the bin at their feet.
Stumble it! | Posted in Household, Worth a Thousand Words |
when i tell coworkers i do this they think i’m crazy. some people are just way too squeamish.
I picked up some bananas the other day - they were marked down from 49-cents/lb to 25-cents/lb because they were scuffed up. But they weren’t old, and when I got them home and peeled them, the insides were in perfect, unblemished condition! I’ll be going back to that store - I wish the other grocery stores would do the same thing.
My greatest concern with molded veggies is the possibility of having a reaction to the fungus. I read somewhere that soft-bodied fruits and vegetables are more likely to have fungal hyphae that run throughout the flesh than harder ones, and so cutting out the visible spots might not be sufficient. Any thoughts?
(That said, I am an avid veggie trimmer!)
I LOVE happy baby noises - but then I’m a grandmother. Thanks. susan
Nat, glad to hear you’re not swayed by the squeamish! Good for you.
Fairydust, it is weird how some stores do and some don’t, huh?
Arlani, my team of lawyers (sorry, old joke) advise me to remind readers that I’m licensed in nothing, save barbecue judging. I’m not sure the difference between soft and harder-bodied produce. I guess you could always be more generous in your paring. Or give it the old sight, smell, taste tests. Anyone else have insight here?
Susan, I’m not sure they’re happy baby noises…but I appreciate your optimism!
I know I’ve said this before, but I really wish that more stores would sell their damaged produce. I’d totally buy it.
When I lived in an area that had small groceries and butchers, I saw a lot more old produce being sold at discount prices. Many years later and in an area with only big chain supermarkets, I don’t see it. It makes me sad, both at all that waste and that I don’t have the opportunity to buy inexpensively. I’d totally buy it as well.
On Friday night our dinner was a stir-fry and salad made from fresh veggies from our CSA and some peppers, cucumbers and squash from the discount table at our local grocery store. I also had a pear for lunch - also courtesey of the discount table. It doesn’t take high level knife skills to remove a few smuts from the less-than-perfect produce.
And I too love the background baby noises - very cute.