Pre-Packaged Produce: Fresh Foods Get a "Bad Wrap" for Sustainability
Something has changed in the produce aisles.
Visiting a supermarket, where I used to shop frequently, I was surprised to find that most of the fresh produce was pre-packaged.
It wasn't that way before.
There I was with my washable, reusable , enviornmentaly friendly grocery bags and I was picking up things that were encased in plastic, cellophane, styrofoam and cardboard.
As soon as I realized what was happening, I began to put some of my selections back. Then picked a couple of stalks of broccoli that were packaged only in a rubber band. (Even the rubber band wasn't necessary-- I would have taken two stalks, anyway.)
I selected some loose apples, lemons and oranges. I chose a head of lettuce that did have plastic wrapping, along with a leaf lettuce that merely had only a wire wrapping band around it .
Change for the Better?
Some of their displays had been changed around, since the last time I visited there. This is not unusual. Supermarkets are always changing things around.
It is a large store, and I always liked their selection of fresh fruits and vegetables.
The produce was still at the far end of the store, stretching from the back to the front in an area that is about 40 feet wide with refrigerated cases along the walls, and bins filling the center section.
Near a back wall were the fresh, unpackaged vegetables and I noticed that the long sidewall that stretched from the back to the front of the store also had vegetables and fruits, but most of them were packed in plastic in bags, plastic clamshells and other containers.
There were containers of cut up and peeled fruits, bagged salad greens, packaged mixed cut up vegetables, and a large array of natural fruit and vegetable juices in the cases.
There are also a lot of complete salads and ready-to-eat meal components.
In the bins, there were also packaged fruits and vegetables and a few loose things like apples and oranges and onions but as I checked around it looked like about 70% of all of the fresh fruits and vegetables were packaged in some way.
Fresh and Trashless
I like buying fresh vegetables but don't like the fact so many of them now packed in wrapping material that conceals, rather than preserves the freshness.
Using the least processed , least packaged product saves money, even if it costs a little more time.
The packaging needs to be thrown away and is not the kind that is easily recyclable.
I like making meals with fresh fruits and vegetables. When I'm preparing them, the only thing I usually have to throw away are the peelings in and trimmings. (These go to the chickens and the compost heap.)
I'm not throwing away cans and jars and boxes, or plastic containers and plastic bags.
Beets and Coconuts
I saw some precooked steamed beets that were sealed inside some tough plastic, then covered with a cardboard sleeve that concealed the product.
At first I thought it might be a good idea. Beets are a little messy to peel, clean and cook.
But then I realized that I might as well buy canned beets, if I want something pre-cooked and processed with additives. At least cans are recyclable.
One of the most puzzling things I have seen fresh packaged, was a coconut.
It was on a styrofoam tray covered with plastic, with a little label. WHat??? Don't people know that coconuts come in their own packaging?
Good Things for the Consumer
1. Packaging prevents dehydration. It protects crispiness, keeps in fresheness and vitamins. (At least this is what packagers claim.)
2. Packaging keeps food more sanitary. It discourages handling, squeezing, pinching .
3. Packaged products are time-saving. More people opting for fresh fruits and veggies for snacks. For convenience, small portions prevent unnecessary food waste.
4. Kids like them. Kids, and adults ,will eat more fruits and vegetables in lunchboxes, if they are conveniently packaged in single servings.
Bad Things for the Consumer
What are the problems with pre-packaging?
1. Disease outbreaks Salmonella, lysteria and eColi outbreaks have been traced to bagged fresh produce, especially spinach and salad greens.
Think about the possibility of a tiny bit of contamination from manure or tainted irrigation water, that is in a plastic bag being trucked across the desert.
2. More unrecylable trash Stryrofoam trays are one of the least degradeable packaging materials known to man. The plastic, cellophane and saran are not likely to be recycled either.
3. Loss of nutrients Precut vegetables and fruits lose vitamins and other nutrients faster than whole products.
4. Expensive You generally will be paying more, by weight, when you buy packaged produce. A prepared package of cut up fruit, for instance, usually costs at least twice as much as you can make yourself. And if you're buying from a farmer's market, you probably can save 50% more.
5. More technology pollution Manufacturing the packaging materials for these fruits and vegetables, to help them maintain their freshness, may create more pollution.
6. Spoiled or Over ripe You have to inspect packed produce caefully to make sure it is not spoiled, moldy or dried up. The refrigerated fruit could be in a "chilled gas chamber".
7. Taste and smell Compounds sprayed on produce (chlorine and ozone are two) to retard spoilage may leave unpleasant traces
8. More government laws and agencies It takes government entities to make sure that packages are labeled correctly with contents, weight and place of origin. Laws and regulations have to be made to make sure fresh food is properly weighed, cleaned, processed, branded, identified, labeled,packaged, presented, transported, stored and tested .
Peel it yourself.
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Good Things for the Seller
1. Less Waste The bruised apple, the imperfect potato and the damaged artichoke will no longer be left behind if it is hidden in a bag with other more acceptable pieces.
2. Less spoilage More "peak ripeness" foods will survive handling and be bought by unsuspecting customers. Packaging helps prevent damage and loss from browsing customers.
3. Fewer employees There will be fewer produce people trimming lettuce in the back room or pulling out imperfect items from the bins. There will be less cleanup in the store.
4. More profit, higher margins The packaged items are almost always significantly higher per pound than the unwrapped fruit and vegetables. Less product, more packaging (have to cover that cost), still equals more profit.
This is why pre-packed produce is called a "value added" product. With their colorful labels, they look good and seem easy, which entices the customer. Perfectly cut portions look nice, too. They may even come with printed recipes, or a plastic fork.
Bad Things for the Seller
1. Pre-cut vegetables and fruit need to be kept on ice or refrigerated for best quality.
2. Also.....
The point is, there doesn't seem to be many bad things for the seller. It might be bad if people start buying their produce from farm stands or growing their own. These alternatives are not available to everyone.
What does it mean?
Probably we will see almost every fresh product being packaged in the future-- even bananas, pineapple and coconuts.
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Lettuce a Heads-Up Case Study
These are typical prices for comparison. Prices vary with region, season and weather which can affect availability.
Bagged lettuce mix organic -- $3.99 for 11 oz. = 36c per oz. I rarely buy bagged mixed salad greens. There are always a few badly wilted (or worse) pieces in the bag. These mixes seem like a great convenience, but they are also one of the items most likely to be contaminated.
Often they contain pieces that have been culled from greens which would not be presentable in whole form. Sub standard lettuce heads , not packaged in the field, are sent to packing plants where they are sprayed with "preserving agents" and cut into pieces for pre-packaged sale.
Some people think that the plastic bag encourages growth of any bacteria which may be present, especially if there has been a lapse in refrigeration during transportation of storage. By weight, bagged salad can easily cost 73% more.
Romaine hearts-- $ 2.99 for 18 oz =17c per oz. Tops of the "hearts" were a little wilted, not really crisp. Though the package is dated with a "best by date" that still had time remaining, it seemed that the lettuce hearts may have been culled from bunches which had possibly become wilted on the outer leaves.
The bag recommended washing before use, so little work was saved for the consumer. The bottoms of the stem ends were "rustier" than the unbagged bunch of lettuce, indicating an older age.
Leaf romaine lettuce.-- $1.29 for 20 oz. = 6.5c per oz. Though some of the outer leaves needed to be discarded (given to chickens), the lettuce was crisp and there was considerably more green leaf in the total content.
Retailers may be paying for a 45-lb. box of untrimmed iceberg lettuce, and have to trim 10 pounds off even though they’re still paying for it to be shipped. They pay for labor and disposal of the bad lettuce. Obviously they would rather sell the bagged salads
This has already happened with "fresh" meat.
Patrons told the meat cutter how much of what kind they wanted and and it was custom cut, or customers pointed out their choices from the refrigerated case. The meat man weighed it and wrapped it in paper.
Now most supermarket meats are pre-cut and prepackaged in refrigerated for the "convenience of the customer". More and more of it of it is even preseasoned and/or precooked.
Some of it is even sealed into indestructable cryovac packages along with tenderizers, preservatives and other artificial ingredients. We are seeing less and less fresh cut meat that has not be tampered with.
When this first started with fresh meat we probably didn't realize that the beef, pork chicken and other protein may have been cut up days ago. Perhaps even more to the point, we didn't realize how much saran, cardboard, plastic and styrofoam trash it would add to our landfills.
Now it looks like produce may be going in the same direction.
Do you like or use pre-packaged fresh produce?
See results without votingHope for Local and Home Farmers
What else can we do?
Shop at your local farmer’s market for fresh and healthy food . Farmers might sell “cosmetically challenged” produce at a discounted rate. You can often find real bargains.
Buy direct If you are close to the sources of food, it is cheaper. Visit localharvest.org to connect to farmers and other food producers in your area.
I hope our fruit trees do well this year, and I'm planing to give the vegetable garden a little extra attention.
I really want to eat more fresh food-- more real food --without bringing home all the the trash, litter, and other problems that may be lurking.
How to Precycle:
- “Precycling” – the next step in the sustainable food movement
Find out why the concept of "precycling" is becoming popular, how it differs from recycling, and the impact it has on health and in creating a sustainable food environment.
Great topic!! Although prepackaged veggies and fruit are convenient, I agree they can be a harbor for disease. I prefer fresh unpackaged fruit and veggies for sure. Very informative hub for the public!
Peggy-- I'm afraid it's coming to a store near all of us very soon. As long as it is practical and profitable for the stores, I can't see anything that will stop it.
Very sad.
I appreciate your comment.
Thank you Indanila-- may the farmer's markets live long and prosper.
That's disgusting. We haven't seen that yet and if we do, we'll be complaining loudly.
Keep your eyes open-- it creeps up on you so you hardly notice, like a lot of other things in this country. I'm seeing some packaged produce in the local independent market where I do most of my shopping, but it's not too bad yet. I was really surprised at the chain supermarket in the somewhat bigger town, It's about the profit, not the customer, but they are doing their best to convince us that it's what we want.
Some of the items are better pre-packaged such as broccoli and some other veges. Our market vendors don't really take very good care of some of the vegetables so I buy the better quality which is usually pre-packed in a foam plate and plastic wrap or a plastic bag. I like my garlic in the mesh bag too because it's always fresher.
I prefer unwrapped produce, too, Rochelle, but it's getting harder and harder to find in the markets. In the case of meat, finding a real butcher in the store is even more difficult. Doesn't anyone study that line of work any more?
Hi, Cardisa,
I guess it depends on where you are and what is available. Mesh bagged items aren't so bad-- especially if you can use the whole bagful. but sometimes I think it is just a way of getting you to buy more than you normally would.
DrBJ, In many cases, that is true here.. but I have seen the 'old fashioned' meat counter come back in a few instances. Mostly they show the more expensive cuts in the case, but I have been able to get something custom cut, just by asking. ... and no styro tray!
I totally agree with you. The best thing we can do is to refuse to buy that packaged stuff. Unfortunately, too many of us have fallen for the hype of packaged produce.
In the winter, I buy at a local store that doesn't package their produce, and in the summer and fall, I buy at the farmer's market. I decided to increase the size of my garden this year, because I don't like the bacteria that's making its way into our food supply, and I don't want more trash. I also buy meat at a local butcher, who thankfully is still in business.
Totally with you on this one, Rochelle, and share your buying habits. I buy produce and fruit only from local farm markets from April through November-- In winter I usually use frozen veggies and stick to apples, bananas, and grapes for fruit. Had not really noticed this new trend towards packaging produce, but now that you mention it....... great hub. Bookmarking and voting up
Looks like you have it figured out, Healthy Pursuits, I hope we don't come to the point where we don't have a choice.
And with the meat-- I can't believe how much of it is now 'heat and eat' in the supermarket cases. Is cooking really that much of a lost art? Maybe this generation really is for "convenience" and dependence.
A rock solid examination of this topic, Rochelle. And I think you are right, vegetables are getting a very bad [cough] wrap [cough]. (Yes, I laughed). To be honest, I came because I was curious, saw what the actual topic was about and, not being the shopper or the environmentally involved kind of person, figured I'd just skim. But you've written it so well, and covered the ups and downs with such equanimity, that, well, there I was at the end of the article having read every word and feeling content with having acquired a better grip on something I didn't think I wanted a better grip on until having read your fine hub. So thanks. :)
Thanks so much for the compliments, Shadesbreath. I'm really happy that you found it readable, even though you were not really interested in the subject matter. That's high praise.
Not sure, though, about the "equanimity". I did try to give some of the potential positives, but I think it was pretty clear which side I favored.
As an old newspaper writer, I guess I couldn't just go all one-sided.
Rochelle, I am a little frightened now. I love buying the prebagged and shredded lettuce. After reading your presentation, I am compelled to go back to buying it by the head, I have been getting the pre packed produce because I don't like the idea of purchasing items that have been handled by others. This is really a hard problem for me. My only solution lies in the Summer sun when I get my own backyard vegetables. They are the best.
I agree that backyard veggies are the best. No matter where they come from, they need to be examined and well rinsed. A lot of people like to rinse lettuce in water spiked with apple cider vinegar.
When I rinse lettuce, from wherever, I like to find a live insect-- it indicates that pesticides have not been too strong.
On the other hand when I see a stock boy politely covering a sneeze with his hand--before proceeding to to stack apples in the display-- welll, ugh.
There's a fine line between being so clean that we lose all immunity, and slipping into the danger zone.
I think we have to use what sense we have-- be careful, but don't stop eating vegetables. Thanks for commenting, Billrrrr.
Great in-depth look into how the fresh-food industry is using packaging to wring every penny it can out of consumers' pockets. The information you presented here can help us all make smart health and money choices.
Wrapped coconut? I've never seen that. That's totally crazy.
I'm lucky to have access to farm markets for seasonal produce and specialty bulk produce markets for the rest of the year. I stopped buying produce at my local supermarket chain store a long time ago, mostly because of the expense, but also because of the emphasis on pre-packaged produce.
A friend of mine asked the other day if she should buy a package of "soup vegetables" to make a chicken soup recipe she wanted to try. I asked, what's in the package? There was a stalk of celery cut in half, two carrots, a parsnip, a half an onion, and a token snip of parsley... for 2.39 USD. The supermarket makes a killing on this kind of marketing, preying on the psychology of the consumer (Why should I buy a pound of carrots, a bunch of parsnips, celery, and parsley, and an onion for 4 USD when I can get what I need for the soup for 2.39?).
Voted up, useful, and why isn't "important" a choice?
Thank you, Sally's. I wish we had a produce store around here-- I'll just have to wait for farmers market season and my garden.
Actually, our closest supermarket (we only have two-- and one isn't up to snuff) hasn't gone completely to the dark side, and it isn't a chain, so the manager is more responsive to his customers.
You are right, it just doesn't make sense. Especially as often the food still needs to be washed, so what the hell is the plastic for!? It is not people destroying the planet, it is commercial business!
Socially sharing, up and interesting.
Beautiful, well-organized and expertly formatted hub! I was compelled to read to the end, especially because I hate pre-packaged, processed foods. Well-done!
You understand it perfectly. Thank you for the kudos and the share.
Too bad there are not more of us that think that way. Im afraid the concept is going to be the accepted practice very soon.
Thanks for your very nice comments.
I avoid buying these prepackaged fruits and vegetables. It's alottery you never know what're getting. I still prefer smelling and touching the veggies and fruits at the local market!
I agree-- it IS a trade off, knowing that the 'loose' items may have been touched by other shoppers and stockers--
- but the packaged stuff has also been touched and handled. I think the plastic packaging gives microscopic entities a better environment for incubation. Being exposed to air eliminates some of the uglies.
Pre-packaging is a very unhealthy idea, but we can't do much about it. You can just safe your end to keep yourself healthy.
Yes, we have to do what we can do for ourselves. I don't think it will get better.
You were right on with this one. What with all the interest and marketing toward the 'green' shoppers, I can't imagine why they are doing this. Where I live, we have a great recycling program, but still...And I see a lot of produce packed in those net bags that wind up floating around in the ocean, killing marine life.
I think it it may be worse on organic produce, because there are certain regulations growing around what can be called "organic"-- which requires labeling or identifying packaging.
Thanks for commenting, Delores.
You have done a great job of putting both sides of the arguement for packaged fruit and vegetables.
We are very lucky as there is a weekly farmer's market in our neighouring village. We also live close to two farm shops, and we have a weekly vegetable box scheme. This scheme delivers fresh seasonal vegetables to our houses, with minimal or recyclable packaging. We try our best to support these initiatives.
We do recognise that many people do not have these choices.
You are right, 2patricias. Choices may be limited, and are getting more limited,for some people.
Produce from locally grown sources is even more desirable. Thank you for reading and commenting.
Rochelle Frank,
The fresh markets in Madison are really taking hold. This is great thing to return to the local markets rather than the arms length markets.
Wonderful research and very well written. Voted up!
so the "fresh markets" display the produce raw, uncut and in their unwrapped state?
Peggy W 3 months ago
I'm in your corner 100% on this one, Rochelle. Fortunately there are still many grocery stores in our area where we can choose individual pieces of fruit and vegetables. We recently discovered one that features many Oriental products and many veggies of which I am unfamiliar. I am purchasing some of them and having fun experimenting with them.
That is not to say that everything comes that way. Hopefully this trend will not become widespread. Up and useful votes!