Researchers recently confirmed what food storage experts had long believed: Refrigerating tomatoes causes them to lose flavor. Now scientists are hoping that some genetic tinkering will turn blah supermarket tomatoes into flavorful rivals to their farm-fresh cousins. [More]
produce
Dole Slapping Disney Branding On Fresh Produce Line Aimed At Kids
By 10.14.16 — Updated: 11.1.16
Will Princess Elsa’s face on a bunch of broccoli make more kids want to eat their vegetables? That remains to be seen, but Dole and Disney are willing to try, with a new line of co-branded produce featuring Disney, Pixar, Star Wars and Marvel characters. [More]
12-Year-Old Who Runs His Own Farm Stand Thought It Would Be A “Cool” Thing To Do
By 8.16.16
You know what I thought was a cool thing to do on Saturdays when I was 12? Skip ballet class/soccer practice and sleep in. Then there’s the kid in Washington state who harvests his own produce and runs his own farm stand. [More]
Walmart Piloting Program To Sell “Ugly Produce” At A Discount
By 7.21.16
Not every apple is a shiny, smooth round orb of deliciousness. Some come with little dents or a few off-colored spots, but that doesn’t make those pieces of produce any less delicious. Still, you might be hard pressed to find those imperfect apples, pears, tomatoes, peppers, and other fruits and vegetables at your local store. That’s about to change for some Walmart customers, though. [More]
What Should I Do If The Prepackaged Produce At The Store Is Priced Incorrectly?
By 5.19.16
Some days it’s just easier to pick up a prepackaged meal from the grocery store; whether it’s grabbing a container of pre-cut fruit for a picnic or a plate of shucked corn for the grill, the pre-measured and individually packaged items can be convenient. But what happens when the weight of the container you snatched doesn’t match the price and weight on the label? [More]
Report: Grocers Failing In Commitment To Open New Stores In “Food Deserts”
By 12.7.15
In 2011, many of the nation’s largest food retailers committed to opening or expanding 1,500 grocery or convenience stores in and around neighborhoods without supermarkets by 2016, with the aim of providing healthier options for consumers. However, a new analysis of the four-year progress for the initiative found that only a fraction of these companies have lived up to their promise. [More]
Yet Another Shopper Finds Black Widow Spider In Grapes, This Time From Walmart
By 9.8.15
A Michigan woman’s scary run-in with a creepy, crawly spider serves as a great reminder of the importance of washing your fresh produce when you bring it home, because there could be a black widow spider just hanging out in that bunch of grapes, you know, just waiting for you. [More]
Woman Hospitalized After Bite From Black Widow Spider Hiding In Grapes From The Supermarket
By 5.27.15
Just because we’ve heard of people finding black widow spiders in their grapes doesn’t make it any less icky this time around: A Vermont woman was reportedly hospitalized after a stowaway arachnid hiding in her produce bit her. [More]
Whole Foods Introduces Produce Ranking System Based On Suppliers’ Farming Tactics
By 10.15.14
How do the fruits and vegetables you buy stack up against other produce? Are those flowers really the best you can get? Whole Foods is trying to answer some of those questions for customers with its new “responsibly grown” labeling system that ranks produce and plants at its stores, based on how suppliers farm those products. [More]
Just Because You’re Shopping At A Farmer’s Market Doesn’t Mean The Food Came From That Farm
By 9.4.14
When you pull up to a farmer’s market, ready to stock up on locally grown produce, you’d probably assume that everything on sale was raised by the farmers doing the selling, or that it was at least from another local grower. But you may be buying food that’s actually been trucked in from hundreds of miles away, possibly from another country. [More]
At Kroger, “Local” Produce Comes From Within 400 Miles
By 4.29.14
The virtue and environmental impact of buying locally-grown produce is a controversial question, but produce trucked from a nearby farm usually tastes better, at least. It’s also nice when a grocery store points out which items of produce come from farms in your community. The key question is, how do you define “local”? [More]
Would A Shopping Cart Mirror Showing Your Fat Face Make You Buy More Vegetables?
By 8.30.13 — Updated: 5.15.14
Could you look yourself in the eye, then load your grocery cart up with root beer and ice cream bars? No, literally. Stakeholders ranging from from physicians to grocers want Americans to buy (and eat) more fresh produce and less junk food, but how can they do that without a complete overhaul of the food system? With gentle nudges. [More]
Signs That Your Produce Is Unproductive
By 11.10.11
Those who blindly reach into produce bins and accept whatever they grab are doomed to have their meals spoiled. To choose the right fruits and veggies, you need to know how to spot the warning signs of what makes those good gourds go bad. [More]
Listeria-Tainted Cantaloupe Said To Have Caused Miscarriage
By 10.6.11
Contaminated cantaloupe has turned fruit salads deadly. Not only has the tainted fruit caused 18 deaths in 20 states, but now it’s believed to have taken a life before birth. A pregnant Iowa woman miscarried after suffering listeria poisoning from cantaloupe. [More]
Tomatoes Recalled For Salmonella Contamination
By 5.3.11
Of all the toppings that go well with tomatoes, salmonella isn’t one of them. Thus, Six L’s tomato farm of Florida issued a recall of its potentially contaminated tomatoes. [More]
Grow Your Own Everlasting Salad
By 3.3.11
It doesn’t take magical powers to make veggies sprout from your backyard – just some effort, knowledge and responsibility. Growing your own garden can save you money, ensure the food you eat is free of pesticides and harmful chemicals and provide a satisfying hobby. [More]
Suss Out Fakers At Farmers Markets
By 10.12.10
As an undercover hidden camera investigation recently revealed, not every bearded and overall-wearing guy behind the stand at farmers markets is selling food he grew himself. Some of them just load up a local produce warehouses and sell it to you at a feel-good-about-saving-the-earth premium. So how do you tell who’s real and who’s shoveling you fertilizer? [More]
Los Angeles Farmers Markets Full Of Lies, Warehouse Produce
By 9.27.10
If you’re in California and need to make a little extra cash, why not buy a bag of baby carrots from the supermarket, throw some potting soil on them, and sell them at your local farmers market as fresh-from-your-farm organic treats? Okay, maybe technically that’s not permitted, but who’s going to stop you? An NBCLA investigation found vendors at several farmers markets were lying to customers about their produce, and sourcing it from local warehouses instead of their own farms. [More]
