Ideal Bite

What'll save more lives than Pam Anderson in a red one-piece?

Submitted by tmeronek on Wed, 09/03/2008 - 1:29am.

The Bite:

(The lives of your meat and produce, that is.) Mindfully storing your food prolongs its life span, meaning less waste and lower grocery bills. Oh buoy.

The Benefits:

Life-preserving landfill space. We Americans send about 14% of our food to garbage dumps (where it doesn't biodegrade), largely because we don't eat it in time and it spoils.
CPR for your wallet. The average cost of food per American family jumped 36% between Jun. 2000 and May 2008, so every lil' bit you can save helps.

Personally Speaking:

Toshio recommends tossing champagne grapes in the freezer - they'll last a long, long time, and when you take them out they're like natural mini-Popsicles.

Wanna Try:

Store fruits and veggies separately (some fruits let off the gas ethylene, which speeds ripening in veggies).
Pack meat in a reusable vacuum-sealed/ziplock bag to protect it from freezer burn.
Check the VA Tech Food Storage Guide for food-specific info, such as what to use for storage in the fridge.
Oliso Frisper Freshkeeper - vacuum sealer for all types of food that uses reusable plastic bags ($68).
Evert-Fresh Bags - reusable produce bags with a clay lining that absorbs gases that cause produce to decompose ($6/10 10-gallon bags).