Bananas? Just put in frig as soon as bought. Take one out each night to “thaw” it OR put it in the Microwave for 10-15 seconds – Voila – room temp banana.

I use clear plastic bags from the farmer’s market (one vendor has them). I put the newer greens under the older ones. I put the sturdier veggies (root veggies too) on the left side, which seems to get colder. I gather greens like radish tops, carrot tops, etc which people discard at the farmer’s market, but I juice them. I put them into bags on shelves cos I can’t fit everything into the crisper drawers.

My greens last about a week, but going into the second week, some things like romaine lettuce, dandelion greens, dill, parsley, etc start to show black mold. I inspect and remove at first signs of browning.

I NEVER EVER WASH BEFORE USING. Water makes produce go bad faster than anything! I won’t buy little green onions from any store because the greens are already wilting and limp while on the shelf. How are you going to dry lettuce? That’s just a sales ploy. I’ve talked to people in produce dept at big stores, Whole Foods, my smaller SM Co-Op. They all water veggies just to make them look good. I respond that I buy my produce at the farmer’s market, where they’ve been outside, without refrigeration for hours, and they last longer than ANY store bought veggies. It’s the number one reason I buy at farmer’s markets.

One produce manager at the West LA Whole Foods told me a customer objected to mud in her spinach, and that’s why they wash them. I replied spinach grows in mud. Have you tried to buy a bunch of spinach that’s not half wilted on the shelves? So some lazy, stupid, rich, arrogant Whole Foods customer won’t wash her spinach and we all suffer with wilted greens? I told him, as I have told others, that water destroys, washes off vitamins and minerals (which are water soluble), and makes the produce go bad very quickly. I’ve even held up spinach and onions to prove my point.

The STORES DO NOT CARE about quality of food. The faster the produce goes bad, the faster you and I will be back to buy more.

When I have to buy from the SM Co-Op, I have to spread out ALL my produce in several colanders for hours to dry before I put into fridge. Otherwise they will rot very quickly.

I agree about bananas: putting into fridge doesn’t taste as good. Eat fresh when the skin starts to get a deep golden and little brown spots like freckles. Most people eat unripe bananas and throw them out when they are just perfectly ripe. I buy so many that I peel, cut into little rounds, and freeze for smoothies or “ice cream.” But there’s nothing like fresh bananas. The drag is they take so long to ripen and go bad quickly.

Apples, like ALL fruit, should not be refrigerated other than to extend shelf life. I try to buy only what I can eat in a week, put the majority in the fridge, no plastic bag, with a couple on my kitchen table (I buy small apples). Eating fruit at room temp makes fruit taste better, juices flow, plus better and easier digestion (closer to body temp, which is ideal for raw foodies and all digestions).

The point is: eat your veggies and fruit within the week you purchased them. Faster if from stores, cos the produce is not as fresh (unless your rock-hard fruit need to sit out and soften).

MOST of these surveys / guides were financed by food producers, who would love food to rot more quickly so we buy more. Doesn’t matter if a college produced the report, the food manufacturers underwrote/paid for it more than likely. Experience is the best teacher!

IF you are forgetting about them, you might want to work on notes on the fridge to remind you. I use whiteboards with magnets which I picked up at Staples. I list the produce I bought and list what I need to buy. After awhile, it becomes a habit.

When I throw out veggies, that’s a result of buying cooked foods and not taking care of myself. It starts with our mind, forcing ourselves to new habits, new ways of storing and using fresh produce.

Rather than tips on how to store produce, why not how to buy only what you’ll eat. And why aren’t you using what you buy? Seriously, you shouldn’t be trying to store it for more than a few days and definitely not more than a week.

If, on the other hand, the FLESH of the potato is green-tinged, discard that sucker and don’t look back.

I credit my crispers for keeping a potentially horrible clutter miraculously organized. These drawers have dramatically improved the accessibility of their contents and have made finding that little bag with those last few scraps of vegetable matter a breeze. Things no longer fall out onto the floor when I open the door, instead, I am able to calmly move and examine the assortment of healthy foodstuffs without fuss. Once my choice is made, it is a simple matter to return the rest of the items to the appliance in which these drawers quite normally live. I couldn’t imagine having to go without these drawers.

I know you don’t believe me. I’m not insisting that you do. You too can test, prove and confirm this same unbelievable story on your own. However, I must warn you before you proceed. You absolutely must never forget, that like everything else with a life of its own, proper habitat and storage of crispers is essential, otherwise they become spoiled and rotten, rebellious against their keepers. They do best in a much cooler habitat than the one in which they were raised. In the freezer compartment above the fridge. So there.

Canadiangirl wrote: “If you loosely wrap each banana individually in a paper towel, it will not go black in the fridge. It might sound wasteful, but nothing happens to the paper towels, so you can re-use them after you eat your bananas. I guess if you don’t mind black bananas, it doesn’t matter, but some folks do, so this really does work.”

I knew that if you want to slow down the ripening process of a banana to put it in the fridge. In fact I have done this more than once. The nice thing is that if you buy too many bananas and you have a few left that you will not eat before they get too ripe you can buy yourself a couple extra days in order to eat them while they are still at your desired ripeness. The only downside is that they do indeed turn black and it’s not the most appealing site.

I saw this tip about the paper towel and gave it a try over the last couple of days. What do you know it really works! And I must say a cold banana is actually a nice treat. It reminds me of frozen chocolate dipped bananas on a stick, yummy!

I just wanted to say thanks for the tip and confirm through a test of my own that this works. Sure the banana is fine if it turns black in the fridge but for some reason it’s a lot more appealing when it still looks like a perfectly ripe banana. Give it a try today, it will save you money too!

See more tips at The Produce Picker Podcast