I do love organics. But THIS...I don't love. Do you experience the same thing buying organic produce from your natural markets?
E-V-E-R-Y single piece of veg or fruit has the produce code sticker on it. Even small items like roma tomatoes, mandarin oranges... and in the late summer - teeny plums! So, you need to pick away every sticker before you wash the produce. Sure, you can leave it on and wash it... but you then have to cut away that part with the sticker - plus, the sticker gets even more gummy on the produce once wet.
I mentioned in this post (and also in ed&bv) that I always wash the bulk of my produce after returning home from my grocery shop. Saves time in the long run. But, again, leaves me with this kind of sticker collection on my sink. Lovely.I'm waiting for the summer to get my sticker break!... When the farmers' market is in full swing, and nothing is sticked or tagged. And, it's all incredibly fresh! Still, I consider myself lucky to have access to so much organic produce, when I know some of you are in areas without much.
But those darn stickers.
14 comments:
I know whatcha mean. The stickers are annoying. I used to accidentally eat them and think, 'Well, this is a papery apple!'
I've gotta get myself to the farmers market!
It's weird, but shopper's, as deceitful as they can be, will try to get a more expensive product for less whenever they can. At Trader Joe's we have to price EVERY SINGLE organic banana. Weird.
It's worse where we are in Ireland. Our local supermarket sells all its organic fruit & veg on a plastic tray and then wrapped in a plastic wrapper. It's awful. It makes the non-organic stuff look much more appetising!
We have an organic market but it's a bit of a trek away once a week, whereas the supermarket is beside us. But at least the produce in the farmer's market is fresh & local too so it's worth the trek (and they don't sticker the fruit!) :)
Oh I know what you mean! Sometimes I forget about the sticker, wash my pepper or whatever, then I can't get the gummy stuff off. Why can't they come up with a better system?
I remember the days when I was a teenager that worked at a grocery store. I had to memorize all the codes....no stickers to help us out. Kids....they have it so easy now-a-days, but at the cost of the consumer!!!
bananas = 4011...the only code I still remember.
Ah yes, the stickers are awful. Even more reasons to love my garden/ csa/ farmer's market. :)
P.S. I added you as my facebook friend. ;) (Julie Yerex) Tee hee!
P.P.S. I just ate two apples with your devestatingly awesome Celestial Cream. Ye gads. I could eat this stuff forever.
ugh, I too hate those pesky labels!! they're impossible to completely remove from the edible fruit/vegetable peels/skins!!
I will add you as a friend on Facebook :0)
Yes! I've had it up to here with those darn stickers! A Farmer's market is the perfect solution. Thank you for my new favorite food = tamari-roasted chickpeas! :)
I think I found a way to beat these sticky little monsters. When I get home from the store, I first leave the produce in a bowl with vinegar and hydrogen peroxide (my own veggie wash) and water. When I finish putting away everything else, I can rinse the fruits and veggies, and the vinegar has really helped with the gummy labels. My only worry is that some washed produce doesn't seem to last as long as unwashed in the fridge.
Megan, that's priceless... some things do 'stick' with us forever, like a banana code!
Vegmomma, at least you eat some fruit with that cream. For me, the cream is paired with - a spoon!
Christeana, a quick tip that might help extend the life of your washed produce. Put veggies in semi-sealed ziploc bags and then into the fruit/veg drawers of your fridge. I've found putting things in partially zipped bags(esp 'like' items if possible, ex: brocolli in one bag, peppers in another)helps keep them fresh for quite a few days. good luck!
I couldn't agree more! One store I occasionally shop at wraps a piece of tape that says "ORGANIC ORGANIC ORGANIC..." around the fruit or vegetables. Seems just a bit excessive.
Hi Dreena! There's a great song by Canadian satirical songstress Nancy White called 'Stickers on Fruit'! I couldn't help but think of it...she, like the rest of us, hates them! Go to myspace.com/nancywhitemusic. She doesn't have that song up for listening right now, but it's the title of one of her albums. It's a great album! I bet you could also buy that one song on iTunes.
I also just found out something from Idealbite.com:
A four-digit number means it's conventionally grown.
A five-digit number beginning with 9 means it's organic.
A five-digit number beginning with 8 means it's GM.
This was helpful information to me.
p.s. GM=Genetically Modified=YUCK!
Post a Comment