washing non-organic produce

[nolongerchaff]

If you don’t / can’t buy organic produce (I’m thinking about EWG’s Dirty Dozen), how do you wash your produce?

Tbh, sometimes it pains me to pay $7 for organic strawberries, when the regular strawberries are $3 (on sale). I bought organic strawberries today, but sometimes I don’t because of these insane prices!!!

 

[tim_o]

@nolongerchaff We always wash berries with vinegar solution, organic and non-organic alike. The amount of dirt you get out of it is incredibly disturbing lol.

 

[nolongerchaff]

@tim_o Thank you! How do you make your vinegar solution?

 

[redvelvetcake]

@nolongerchaff I do 1/2 cup white vinegar per 2 cups of water then soak for 10-15 min. If some things float above the water, I stir everything around every few minutes then rinse thoroughly and put in a sealed container, sometimes with a piece of paper towel in the container.

 

[tim_o]

@nolongerchaff My husband handles this but mainly it’s vinegar and water. The vinegar surprisingly does not linger! We just let it soak, rinse out, lay to dry on a towel for a bit before putting away.

 

[navyrain0]

@nolongerchaff For grapes and strawberries, i have a hard time finding good organic fresh options, so i buy conventionally grown ones and wash them a lot. I soak them in water and baking soda and then wash and rinse them. Then I do a vinegar and water soak, then rub and rinse them. I don’t know if it makes sense to do both cleaning agents but I figure it doesn’t hurt.

 

[nolongerchaff]

@navyrain0 Thanks for answering! Do you get a vinegar taste on your fruit when you do a vinegar wash?

 

[navyrain0]

@nolongerchaff No not at all, it rinses off really well. My super picky kid doesn’t notice it either!

 

[sunnynevada77]

@nolongerchaff I buy whatever is in season and on sale and do a 30 second hot water rinse and pat dry with paper towel and store in the fruit drawer with moisture control and your berries will last forever. Must make sure the fruit drawer is all the way closed. Less air in the better.

I used to buy only organic, but the prices these days are just too insane to justify for the amount of fruit my kids eat. They lick windows and sometimes forget to wipe and then scratch. Kids are gross haha. Mine rarely get sick. But I’m more team let them get a little exposure.
No allergies or sensitivities so far to any foods so that’s good at least.

 

[blair14]

@runaway887 Thank you for sharing some actual, factual information!

This sub has been getting waayy too Facebook-science for me lately, and I’ve been turned off my how much it’s changed over the past couple of years

 

[julia736]

@blair14 Hear hear. An awful lot of non-science science touted as truth.

 

[nolongerchaff]

@runaway887 Ah, this is really interesting! Do you buy unorganic based on this?

Any chance you could share some of these studies? I’d love to read!

 

[runaway887]

@nolongerchaff I buy whatever is fresher/cheaper and wash it well. Sometimes that’s organic and sometimes it isn’t. I do get a local CSA in the summer, mostly because it forces me to get out of my cooking ruts and try something new or creative and expose the kids to a greater diversity of produce.

Here’s an example of the type of study I find balanced and convincing: https://www.sciencedirect.com/scien...ZncVo3B4FJ4GcgdFDmHEd7TmnsIcLI07K0GJkZXJpC1eE

 

[nolongerchaff]

@runaway887 Thank you!!

 

[redvelvetcake]

@runaway887

human pathogens that can be on them due to growing/harvesting practices.

I once saw two ladies in the supermarket trying each variety of grapes and then sneeze right on the grapes, so also protection from bad supermarket behavior.

 

[sunnynevada77]

@runaway887 Thanks for this. Some of the comments here belong in the most definitely severely granola subreddit lol

 

[findingmywayback]

@sunnynevada77 I’m curious what granola means to you if avoiding pesticides is extreme.

 

[julia736]

@findingmywayback Washing fruits two times with different things is something I most definitely do not have time or energy to do with a full time job and two kids under 4

 

[findingmywayback]

@julia736 And neither do I, but even normal supermarkets, Walmart, etc. sell produce sprays. It's not exactly something only extremists in hippie enclaves do.

 

[runaway887]

@findingmywayback Walmart sells produce sprays because of capitalism, not science.