One of the most important steps of reducing food waste is to know how to properly store fruits and vegetables. Many times, these are the items that people put in their fridge without washing them when they get home from the grocery store. Then they wonder why they go bad in just a couple days. Most items need to be removed from their original packaging and many require an airtight container to increase their shelf life. In this blog you will learn the best way to store fruits and vegetables. Taking some time to properly wash and store fresh fruit and and fresh vegetables will help you reduce food waste and save money on groceries! If you want directions for washing and storing 75 different produce items, check out my Zero Waste Produce Guide and keep reading below.
Fruit Bowl
Do you have a fruit bowl? Many people do and enjoy using it as a decorative way to store their fruit. The thing is, a fruit bowl dramatically decreases how long your fruit will last and is not a good way to store fruit. Keeping fruit at room temperature is okay for some items, but always avoid direct sunlight. Placing fresh produce in a fruit bowl will cause your fruits to go bad in days, instead of weeks so I encourage you to switch up how you store fruit. Instead of putting all of your fruits in the same bowl, you should store fruit separately.
Best Ways to Store Fruit
Apples can last for up to a year from when they are harvested if they are stored in a fridge. If you don’t have space in your fridge, that’s okay! You can store apples on the counter for several months. You should always wash them first using my directions. After they are washed, you can store them on their own in a bowl or basket in the refrigerator if possible. You also could use a wire basket in the pantry. View the full directions for how to wash apples in this YouTube video.
Bananas will last longer if you store them on a hook. You don’t need to wash them and you want to hang the entire bunch together. Keep bananas away from other fruits because they are sprayed with ethylene gas which speeds up the ripening process. If you choose organic bananas, they do not have ethylene gas and they will ripen slower.
The best place for the bananas on the hook is on the kitchen counter. Regardless of the type you buy, you still should store them separately. If you find yourself wasting bananas because you don’t eat the whole thing, check out my banana in a mason jar trick! Glass jars are used for storing produce items and are a must if you want to keep your fruit fresh longer.
Keeping Oranges Fresh
Oranges are another fruit that can last a lot longer than people think. You should wash oranges in 10 cups of water and ¼ cup distilled white vinegar for two minutes. After washing them, you should store them in a bowl on their own or in the fridge in the crisper drawer with lemons and avocados. If you are washing and storing them this way, oranges should stay fresh for several weeks.
Leafy greens and lettuces like romaine lettuce should be washed in a vinegar wash. To speed up the drying process, I use a salad spinner. Then I place the lettuce to dry in a single layer on a towel until there is no excess moisture. The greens are placed in a large, glass, air-tight container with a dry paper towel at the bottom to absorb any excess moisture. The container should be kept in the refrigerator and it will remain fresh for several weeks.
Crisper Drawer Produce Buddies
Two items that do well being stored together are lemons/oranges and avocados, so I call them produce buddies! After washing them, they should be put in the fridge in the crisper drawer. Your citrus (lemons, oranges, etc.) and avocados can be stored together. This will allow avocados to last for a month and citrus fruits for up to 6 weeks! You can put cut avocados in a glass jar in the fridge to stay fresh for about a week.
Pantry Storage
The pantry is a great place to store certain vegetables that like to stay in a darker, cooler space. Most people do not have a root cellar anymore, but these root vegetables can still be stored in the pantry. You should store onions and potatoes in the pantry in wire baskets to allow air circulation. While you can store them similarly, you need to keep them apart. These are the opposite of produce buddies. They need to be at least 3 feet apart so that they do not cause the other to spoil faster. Sweet potatoes can be stored with regular potatoes.
If you want to learn more about taking inventory and creating a well-stocked pantry, I have an entire module on that in my course, The Grocery Solution. This is a self-paced course filled with videos and resources that will help you save money on groceries. You can learn more about it on my website.
How to Store Fruits and Vegetables Chart
There is a full how to store fruits and vegetables chart in my hardcover book, the Zero Waste Produce Guide. It includes directions for washing and storing produce, there is an easy-to-read chart that includes how/when to wash items as well as where to store them (fridge or pantry).
I hope that now you understand why you shouldn’t store fruit in a fruit bowl and have some better storage ideas for your fruits and vegetables.
You can find some of my favorite bowls and food storage items in my Amazon Storefront.
If you have other questions on how to store fruits and vegetables feel free to leave a comment on this post.
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