Reuseable Fruit & Veg bags.

[Alikado]

Lidl are introducing reuseable fruit and veg bags, it's something else you'll have to remember to take with you or it will cost.

Good idea or not?

https://www.manchestereveningnews.co...nment-16727534

[Chris R]

I saw a lady in Tescos the other day, she had purchased 4 mushroons, 1 garlic, 3 apples & 1 courgette, It all looked very strange, no bags etc. She put it all along with a loaf into her bag for life. Wonder how the mushrooms when she arrived home

[local]

Perhaps she just put the mushrooms at the top ?

[Toodles McGinty]

I carry plazzy bags whenever I go out now. Leave a couple in my handbag. I'd prefer an alternative to plastic, and I know there are a few out there, but they aren't always easy to just pack away and forget.

So I use the thicker plazzies until they've no life left in them.

[Blackrock]

I use the canvas/hessian type of bag-for-life for the weekly main shop but keep a couple of the heavier plastic bags in the car for the odd top up shops during the week. I'd also consider keeping a couple of the old fashioned net bags in the car if I could find any. I never use the shops flimsy bags for fruit if I can help it. There again, I was brought up in the 50's when everyone carried their own bags to go shopping with.

[Hamble]

Great idea.
I take carrier bags shopping so a couple of reusable bags is easy.

[local]

Anything that stops those pesky polluters filling up the planet with more rubbish.

[joan ofarc]

I am very committed to reducing plastic etc and always carry a couple of bags with me. I worry though about hygiene in those bags particularly if we are going to put unpackaged food in them. I saw a report on telly about the levels of bacteria inside reuseabe bags... not pretty!
I shop in Lidl and applaud their moves to reduce packaging but watched a man go all the way down the line of loose fruit and veg touching and squeezing the produce. I wouldn't want to buy any of it after that unless it could be peeled. Who knows where people's hands have been!
Don't know what the answer to this is but I am on the fence about reducing packaging of food that we eat directly, such a tomatoes, grapes, apples etc. and then putting them in a re-useable bag.
We should definitely be improving what and how we re-cycle though.

[Alikado]

I am very committed to reducing plastic etc and always carry a couple of bags with me. I worry though about hygiene in those bags particularly if we are going to put unpackaged food in them. I saw a report on telly about the levels of bacteria inside reuseabe bags... not pretty!
I shop in Lidl and applaud their moves to reduce packaging but watched a man go all the way down the line of loose fruit and veg touching and squeezing the produce. I wouldn't want to buy any of it after that unless it could be peeled. Who knows where people's hands have been!
Don't know what the answer to this is but I am on the fence about reducing packaging of food that we eat directly, such a tomatoes, grapes, apples etc. and then putting them in a re-useable bag.
We should definitely be improving what and how we re-cycle though.

Rather than plastic / shrink wrap etc there are compostable wrappings available but they cost more.

[said]

I am very committed to reducing plastic etc and always carry a couple of bags with me. I worry though about hygiene in those bags particularly if we are going to put unpackaged food in them. I saw a report on telly about the levels of bacteria inside reuseabe bags... not pretty!
I shop in Lidl and applaud their moves to reduce packaging but watched a man go all the way down the line of loose fruit and veg touching and squeezing the produce. I wouldn't want to buy any of it after that unless it could be peeled. Who knows where people's hands have been!
Don't know what the answer to this is but I am on the fence about reducing packaging of food that we eat directly, such a tomatoes, grapes, apples etc. and then putting them in a re-useable bag.
We should definitely be improving what and how we re-cycle though.

The Polish people choose tomatoes by pressing them right up to their nostrils to smell them. Not at a distance, but right up into the nostril. I know that we wash vegetables and fruit, but I just could not get that picture out of my mind and - after having witnessed it, I never again bought loose tomatoes.

Fresh produce such as greens, cucumber etc, should never be wrapped in plastic as they deteriorate faster.

[gsgsgs]

Living by myself I rarely buy fresh veg as it can go to waste, I buy frozen peas, sweetcorn, cauliflower, broccoli & carrots I also buy frozen blueberries & blackberry's.

There was a programme the other morning and they did a nutritional comparison between frozen & fresh and there is no loss of nutrition in buying frozen, they actually said you can benefit as frozen fruit & veg is flash frozen soon after picking keeping all its nutritional values, fresh starts to lose its nutritional benefits the longer it is on the shelf or your cupboard/fridge after picking, days or even weeks can pass after being picked and eaten.

[Alikado]

I assume that these bags wll be more substantial than the flimsy things we are used to so it would make sense to only put the items in the bag once it has gone through the till or you will be constantally paying for the bag.

[said]

Living by myself I rarely buy fresh veg as it can go to waste, I buy frozen peas, sweetcorn, cauliflower, broccoli & carrots I also buy frozen blueberries & blackberry's.

There was a programme the other morning and they did a nutritional comparison between frozen & fresh and there is no loss of nutrition in buying frozen, they actually said you can benefit as frozen fruit & veg is flash frozen soon after picking keeping all its nutritional values, fresh starts to lose its nutritional benefits the longer it is on the shelf or your cupboard/fridge after picking, days or even weeks can pass after being picked and eaten.

It may well maintain its nutrients - but they loses their flavour!

Anyway - if we cannot use plastic, do we go back to paper and cut down more trees? Or will there be some chemical alternative which will prove to be even more hazardous in the future?

[gsgsgs]

It may well maintain its nutrients - but they loses their flavour!

Anyway - if we cannot use plastic, do we go back to paper and cut down more trees? Or will there be some chemical alternative which will prove to be even more hazardous in the future?

That's good as I don't actually like veg, I eat it to follow the 5 a day rule. I eat it first to get it out of the way then enjoy what I really want to eat

I do like fruit & I'd disagree that frozen berries lose flavour, I prefer frozen (once defrosted ) much sharper taste.