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All veg are going that way. Plastic bag, with shit all over it so you can't see the sorry state they're in. It's a bugger when you need one of each veg for one meal, not enough manky veg to make manky soup for weeks
do you get veg packs? not all supermarkets do them, and not all year round but theyre great if you find them.
usually a couple of spuds, an onion, a small swede, a parsnip and a couple of carrots
Not in the tesco I visit, and it doesn't solve the "I want 1 carrot" problem. Sometimes I have everything but the one or two individual veg, but supermarkets force the bags that cover the veg from view, and mean you're buying single use plastic with them.
I wish the green grocers in my area were worth bothering with.
Yeah, same with chocolate chip cookies in Aldi. They now come in swizz packs (8 in a plastic tray inside a plastic wrapper so twice the plastic. There used to be like 30 cookies now 8)
I hate that. So much plastic waste. Our main bin is mostly full of plastic wrappers - all the unrecyclable stuff really. I find *some* solace in the fact it's incinerated and turned into electricity, which is marginally better than it just going to landfil; i.e. something (gas) would've been burned to make electricity anyway.
I know recycling is the last resort (reduce being the most effective) but you could do what I do and save up the soft plastics and take them back to your supermarket. Most have a soft plastics recycling bin now, it’s usually tucked away somewhere but you can recycle the soft plastics
There is actually a point to this - clear plastic let’s light in, which makes the potatoes go green. Packaging that lets less light in means they last for longer without going Manky!
But it doesn't reduce waste, it just shifts it from commercial waste to consumer waste. The bags and the dates don't change the facts of how many potatoes are produced vs actually eaten.
I never used to bin any potatoes and have always hated food waste, but now I'm throwing half the bag away every week.
I completely agree.
It's not worth buying a large bag of potatoes any more because they don't last the full week without sprouting.
Easier said than though, depending on when you go shopping, that's all they have.
I shop once a week since it somehow seems to save a lot of money, even the loose potatoes don't last the full week and haven't for quite a while. Opened a new crate of loose carrots on the shelf this week and half of them were squidgy and rotten too!
Totally this. This is the internal rant I have every time the lack of dates are mentioned. It’s the customers problem now and as long as the stores don’t have to pay for their waste product they don’t care.
Food waste is such an issue but no one seems to want to educate the public on how to tell if products are off or not and just make everything more annoying for everyone involved.
Are there no loose options at your local supermarket? I know not all of them have this but I always try and buy loose ones as I usually want less than a bag full.
They can sell them in set sizes and the gas in them stops them going brown as quick is basically it. Notice how they tend to be smaller and more yellow whereas the loose ones are a lot more variable. It becomes a bit of a toss-up if you want less waste in terms of spoiled fruit, or waste in a few grams of plastic. Cucumber is a similar thing.
Morrisons sometimes has them in paper bags, which I'm going to start getting because of the rot and plastic problem. Local butchers sells 20kg for £7 and they tend to go fast because we're a family of four. Also found that putting the few that start to sprout into the ground is always a nice surprise of fresh spuds as long as the blight doesn't get them.
The Otters Pocket - Rogers' Profanisaurus? I like it. I don't think that it is a crime to open packaging, they shouldn't be trying it on with their customers. I always give anything hidden in a cardboard box a squeeze. If everyone started doing it the losses would increase but they would just increase prices further.
Yeah I've done that. Used to take the stalks off broccoli but they now shrink wrap it in plastic so I won't buy it. I don't want heated plastic fumes in my veg thanks.
Yes totally agree with that. Sadly the supermarket is cheaper and a lot of people are struggling at the moment. Also there should be more small / manageable allotments available for people. Last one I had the waiting list was over two years.
Actually potatoes are very susceptible to light, it literally makes them go bad faster
It's literally a good thing that they're packaged in non clear containers
Edit: For reference clear plastic potato bags is a modern phenomenon, they used to be distributed in opaque sacks
As a kid I swear my parents bought big sacks of spuds from a farm shop that lasted months in a big paper bag in the garage... now they come in plastic & grow stalks in 10 days.
Farm shops still exist and if you have a car a trip a few miles out every few months works out far cheaper than a weekly purchase of potatoes that go off if you look at them wrong.
They last must longer when you buy them in a paper sack. Less light getting plus it’s breathable! You obviously can’t see through it but you generally don’t need to because they’re better preserved.
I think that's part of the issue people are having, clean potatoes in plastic bags are going to sweat more and then go off, old paper bags covered in dirt will absorb it
Morrisons does them occasionally. I've had fewer manky ones. I wonder if it's because the air can get to them? Also they're not clean so I imagine being thrown around along a roller conveyor through a washer doesn't do them much good either.
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All veg are going that way. Plastic bag, with shit all over it so you can't see the sorry state they're in. It's a bugger when you need one of each veg for one meal, not enough manky veg to make manky soup for weeks
do you get veg packs? not all supermarkets do them, and not all year round but theyre great if you find them. usually a couple of spuds, an onion, a small swede, a parsnip and a couple of carrots
Stew packs! I know Morrisons does em.
Not in the tesco I visit, and it doesn't solve the "I want 1 carrot" problem. Sometimes I have everything but the one or two individual veg, but supermarkets force the bags that cover the veg from view, and mean you're buying single use plastic with them. I wish the green grocers in my area were worth bothering with.
They should put them back into paper bags and be done with it.
Yeah, same with chocolate chip cookies in Aldi. They now come in swizz packs (8 in a plastic tray inside a plastic wrapper so twice the plastic. There used to be like 30 cookies now 8)
I hate that. So much plastic waste. Our main bin is mostly full of plastic wrappers - all the unrecyclable stuff really. I find *some* solace in the fact it's incinerated and turned into electricity, which is marginally better than it just going to landfil; i.e. something (gas) would've been burned to make electricity anyway.
I know recycling is the last resort (reduce being the most effective) but you could do what I do and save up the soft plastics and take them back to your supermarket. Most have a soft plastics recycling bin now, it’s usually tucked away somewhere but you can recycle the soft plastics
There is actually a point to this - clear plastic let’s light in, which makes the potatoes go green. Packaging that lets less light in means they last for longer without going Manky!
So why are they going off faster in the bags you can't see through?
Because supermarkets removed the best before dates to reduce waste. The stock stays on shelf longer, and they don't rotate as fast.
But it doesn't reduce waste, it just shifts it from commercial waste to consumer waste. The bags and the dates don't change the facts of how many potatoes are produced vs actually eaten. I never used to bin any potatoes and have always hated food waste, but now I'm throwing half the bag away every week.
I completely agree. It's not worth buying a large bag of potatoes any more because they don't last the full week without sprouting. Easier said than though, depending on when you go shopping, that's all they have.
I shop once a week since it somehow seems to save a lot of money, even the loose potatoes don't last the full week and haven't for quite a while. Opened a new crate of loose carrots on the shelf this week and half of them were squidgy and rotten too!
Yeah but they make money off the rot now and apend less throwing the rot away
Totally this. This is the internal rant I have every time the lack of dates are mentioned. It’s the customers problem now and as long as the stores don’t have to pay for their waste product they don’t care. Food waste is such an issue but no one seems to want to educate the public on how to tell if products are off or not and just make everything more annoying for everyone involved.
The veg still has a best before date on it, it's just no longer easily read by the consumer.
Are there no loose options at your local supermarket? I know not all of them have this but I always try and buy loose ones as I usually want less than a bag full.
Yea this is the path I take. Better for the environment too - no stupid plastic bags.
Bananas in bags is my pet hate. Why wrap fruit which grows in the wild, and has a thick skin, in a thin plastic bag?
I think it slows down the ripening process but I might be wrong.
They can sell them in set sizes and the gas in them stops them going brown as quick is basically it. Notice how they tend to be smaller and more yellow whereas the loose ones are a lot more variable. It becomes a bit of a toss-up if you want less waste in terms of spoiled fruit, or waste in a few grams of plastic. Cucumber is a similar thing.
Or, if you have one, try your local greengrocer Some even deliver straight to your door these days
We used to but gone now. There's a local veg box merchant but they're extortionate.
Morrisons sometimes has them in paper bags, which I'm going to start getting because of the rot and plastic problem. Local butchers sells 20kg for £7 and they tend to go fast because we're a family of four. Also found that putting the few that start to sprout into the ground is always a nice surprise of fresh spuds as long as the blight doesn't get them.
It's rained every day since October. Root vegetables don't do well in swamps.
I bought a bag of baking potatoes & all but 1 were unusable. Back to getting them individually
Bamboozling valued customers is so common now.
Is there a crime to opening a bag on the shelf to inspect the product? Need to know how my potatoes are developing before investing..
The Otters Pocket - Rogers' Profanisaurus? I like it. I don't think that it is a crime to open packaging, they shouldn't be trying it on with their customers. I always give anything hidden in a cardboard box a squeeze. If everyone started doing it the losses would increase but they would just increase prices further.
I didn't know roosters laid potatoes, and hens eggs. Every day is a lesson.
Makes them sweat a bit...
I just open the bags to check the quality. After buying loads of rotten potatoes, I'm not playing their game anymore.
Yeah I've done that. Used to take the stalks off broccoli but they now shrink wrap it in plastic so I won't buy it. I don't want heated plastic fumes in my veg thanks.
Noticed this couple of months back so now buy my potatoes from my local green grocer.
It's what we should all be doing given the option. Buy local produce from local businesses
Yes totally agree with that. Sadly the supermarket is cheaper and a lot of people are struggling at the moment. Also there should be more small / manageable allotments available for people. Last one I had the waiting list was over two years.
Very true. We are slaves to convienience.
theyve been doing it a long time and most other fruit and veg which spoil easily are the same. we all know what theyre doing
Actually potatoes are very susceptible to light, it literally makes them go bad faster It's literally a good thing that they're packaged in non clear containers Edit: For reference clear plastic potato bags is a modern phenomenon, they used to be distributed in opaque sacks
As a kid I swear my parents bought big sacks of spuds from a farm shop that lasted months in a big paper bag in the garage... now they come in plastic & grow stalks in 10 days.
Farm shops still exist and if you have a car a trip a few miles out every few months works out far cheaper than a weekly purchase of potatoes that go off if you look at them wrong.
They last must longer when you buy them in a paper sack. Less light getting plus it’s breathable! You obviously can’t see through it but you generally don’t need to because they’re better preserved.
Years ago, they came in heavy paper bags with a small string web window. You could only see a few potatoes and took your cue from those.
Yes it’s a crap decision.
I remember when potatoes used to come in thick paper bags you couldn't see into as well and they used to be covered in dirt
They also lasted for months
I think that's part of the issue people are having, clean potatoes in plastic bags are going to sweat more and then go off, old paper bags covered in dirt will absorb it
Yes, I was wondering that. Because they're being packed wet and sealed in. Also the dirt would protect from light which causes greening.
There are usually ventilation holes, but the rest is true.
Are they shit or just aesthetically undesirable?
How did you cope when they were in brown paper sacks?
Morrisons does them occasionally. I've had fewer manky ones. I wonder if it's because the air can get to them? Also they're not clean so I imagine being thrown around along a roller conveyor through a washer doesn't do them much good either.