Buying and Storing Produce, Without Plastic

You're taking your reusable grocery bags to the store, right? But what do you do with your produce? I confess that I still use those plastic produce bags for a lot of my produce--way too many of them. I admire the people who just throw their produce into their carts or right into their reusable grocery bags. I'm sure that that is the right thing to do, but, as a bit of a germophobe, I can't quite get myself to do this with all of my fruits and vegetables. And sometimes it is just more practical to use a bag when I am buying many pieces of a certain item.

However, I have committed to kicking the plastic bag habit, thereby eliminating the waste as well as another instance in which our food comes into contact with plastic. That's why I am ordering reusable cotton bags to use at the store. I found two sources with both organic and non-organic cotton options. I've ordered many items from Reuseit.com and have been very happy with their service and the products I've received. The site has this selection of reusable produce bags. Ecobags also has a good selection of cotton produce bags. Of course, it would also be a big improvement to simply bring plastic produce bags back to the store and reuse them.

Finally, here is a great guide from the Berkley Farmers' Markets on how to store fruits and vegetables without plastic.

What's in That Bottle of Olive Oil?

By Kevan

Recent research shows that two of the most adulterated foods sold are honey (which I wrote about in an earlier post) and olive oil. Olive oil is far more valuable than most other oils, and is costly and time-consuming to produce. Thus, it is often adulterated with cheaper oils, chemically manipulated or mislabeled. For example, many bottles on store shelves labeled "extra-virgin olive oil" do not in fact contain extra-virgin olive oil. These bottles contain oil cut with lower-grade or cheaper oils, or artificial colors. Some bottles contain oil manipulated to disguise rancidity.

In a recent book, Extra Virginity:  The Sublime and Scandalous World of Olive Oil, author Tom Mueller writes that one Italian olive oil producer estimates that 50% of the olive oil sold in the U.S. is adulterated in some way.

Why should we be troubled by this? Good, fresh olive oil is a wonderfully healthy fat, as Mueller puts it, "a cocktail of 200+ beneficial ingredients." It has antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. Bad or rancid oil loses those properties; it is full of free radicals and impurities. Furthermore, cheap oils, such as soybean, or some seed and nut oils, are extremely unhealthy. They are highly inflammatory, high in omega-6 fatty acids.

So, what can we do to avoid these adulterated olive oils and ensure that what we are buying is actually fresh, healthy olive oil? Mueller has posted this very informative guide to buying olive oil. He recommends finding a store where you can taste oils before you buy (see below). If that is not a possibility, he has many other tips about what to look for. Mueller notes that bitterness and pungency are usually indicators of an oil's healthful antioxidants and anti-inflammatories. He advises to, above all, seek out freshness. I found this helpful article about recognizing rancidity in olive oil. The author claims that most people in the U.S. are actually accustomed to the flavor of rancid olive oil.

Sources for olive oil in Pittsburgh:

• California Olive Oil Connection at the Farmers' Market Coop of East Liberty. This merchant dispenses its oils from bulk containers into reusable bottles. The oil is certified extra virgin by the California Olive Oil Council; a certifying body that Mueller says provides a certain level of confidence that the oil is properly made.
• Olio Fresca Olive Oil Company at the Pittsburgh Public Market. The last time I visited the Public Market this merchant had many olive oils available for tasting.
• Finally, the much-loved Strip District institution Pennsylvania Macaroni Co., better known as Penn Mac, has a mind-boggling selection of olive oils. If you track down the olive oil buyer or other knowledgeable employee, you should be able to garner plenty of information to help you choose a great olive oil.