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August 2009
Tips for Fresh Produce from your Local Farmers Market, Garden or Grocery Store
When it comes to fruits & vegetables, more matters! Daily serving recommendations for produce keep climbing, with current guidelines of 5-9 or more servings per day.
It is not surprising since fruits and vegetables are rich in nutrients including vitamins, minerals and phyto-nutrients. In fact, many are considered to be superfoods, due to the growing medical research supporting their health benefits.
Try not to get too caught up in the number of servings each day. The bottom line is more matters. Include a variety of colorful fruits and vegetables daily.
Visit your local Farmers Market, grocery store, or better yet your own backyard. Once you get the produce home or have picked it, the way it is handled and stored can make a difference in the nutritional value, safety, as well as freshness.
Keeping Produce Fresh
- Purchase only enough for the week (at most). Store properly.
- Remove from sealed plastic bags if the bag is not perforated.
- Store produce in the refrigerator below 41ºF; do not leave it at room temperature unless you want it to ripen. All cut produce should be refrigerated promptly.
- Refrigerate fruits and vegetables in separate crisper drawers in the refrigerator. Fruits give off ethylene gas, shortening the storage life of vegetables. Some vegetables give off odors that can be absorbed by fruits and affect their quality.
Ripening Fresh Produce
Many fruits will ripen after they are picked, such as apricots, bananas, cantaloupe, nectarines, peaches, plums, pears and tomatoes. Cherries, strawberries, watermelon and pineapple do not; therefore, they need to be purchased ripe.
To ripen fruit, place the whole fruit in a brown paper bag and leave at room temperature. When the fruit is ripe, store in the refrigerator.
Keeping Produce Safe
- Begin with clean hands. Wash your hands for 20 seconds with warm water and soap before and after preparing fresh produce.
- Clean fruits and vegetables under running water just before eating, cutting, or cooking. Soap or commercial produce washes are not recommended.
- Many pre-cut, bagged produce are washed (check the label). As a safety measure, wash it again. Pre-cut or washed produce in open bags should be washed again.
- All fruits and vegetables, as well as those packaged and not marked pre-washed, should be thoroughly washed before eating. Produce grown conventionally or organically at home, or from a grocery store or farmer's market should be thoroughly washed.
- Even if you peel the produce before eating, it still must be washed.
- Scrub firm produce, such as melons and cucumbers, with a clean produce brush.
- Cut away any damaged or bruised areas on fresh fruits and vegetables before preparing or eating.
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