DailyDirt: Sealed For Freshness... In Plastic

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

Thu, Mar 10th 2016 5:00pm — Michael Ho

What is a healthy meal? If you look closely enough at almost anything, you'll find it's not as simple as you might expect. Should you eat more fruits and vegetables? Of course you should. But what if the fruit is pre-cut and conveniently packaged (or comes with a free frogurt)? Marketing healthy (or "healthier") foods is making it a bit confusing to know what's really healthy and what's just over-priced and convenient. Yay!

Whole Foods has apologized for selling peeled tangerines in a plastic containers. Some people complained that pre-peeling tangerines and putting them in plastic was wasteful, but it seems only to apply to single fruits, not when you cut up different fruits and mix them before you sell them in plastic containers. (Or to pre-cut vegetable trays.) [url]
Selling pre-peeled bananas, though, does seem a bit unnecessary. A few years ago, an Austrian grocery store sold bananas wrapped in clear plastic on a foam tray without banana peels. (At least the argument over which end to start peeling a banana first was neatly avoided.) [url]
Processed foods are getting a bad reputation, but are Americans really starting to eat fresher foods? The trends point to a "snackification" of food, where people aren't buying sit-down meals as much as pre-portioned snacks. Maybe consumers think they're eating healthier (or trying to), but maybe not. [url]

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Filed Under: fast food, food, fruits, health, marketing, meals, packaging, plastic, snackification, snacks
Companies: whole foods

11 Comments

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Anonymous Coward, 10 Mar 2016 @ 7:05pm

HAHAAHAHAAHAAAA
pre-peeled bananas? How lazy to eat do you have to be? FFS...
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TRX (profile), 10 Mar 2016 @ 7:50pm

> pre-peeled bananas

Considering the peel is a significant chunk of a banana's weight, and most vegetables are sold by weight... and that banana peels rapidly start to stink, which is a factor if you live somewhere that only has weekly trash pickup... I'm not seeing a problem there.
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JoeCool (profile), 10 Mar 2016 @ 10:07pm

Really???
At least the argument over which end to start peeling a banana first was neatly avoided.

First I've ever heard for there being an "argument" over which end to start peeling a banana. In fact, I've NEVER seen nor heard of anyone peeling a banana in any other way than the only way EVERYONE peels one.
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Anonymous Coward, 11 Mar 2016 @ 4:10am

In some ways this could be better. If you toss the peel/skin/etc in the regular trash instead of composting, but whole foods collects bulk food waste to be composted, then that is a net win. Considering that most people who shop at whole foods also have easy access to plastic recycling pick ups as well.

Sure its a dumb system, but the alternatives could be worse.
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Paul Renault (profile), 11 Mar 2016 @ 4:11am

Re: Really???
Maybe you should get out more...

Often, when I come across a person who's arguing for or is only aware of the 'usual' way to peel bananas (usually they're complaining about how difficult it is, how they need to use a knife, etc, etc), I like to point them to one of many Youtube videos that show how chimpanzees peel bananas.

Google it yourself. It just might change your life. Or not.
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John Fenderson (profile), 11 Mar 2016 @ 5:24am

Re:
I guarantee that those prepeeled bananas cost more per oz than the ones with peel. Enough more that you're paying more for the banana.

The problem I see, aside from the unnecessary extra trash, is browning. Peeled bananas brown FAST, and they must be doing something to prevent that. I wonder what they do? Lemon juice?
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John Fenderson (profile), 11 Mar 2016 @ 5:25am

Re: Really???
I don't peel bananas the way most people do. But I also will never get into an argument about it. Who cares?
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Anonymous Coward, 11 Mar 2016 @ 6:36am

Why not just buy the banana in powdered form, then all you lazy people need to do is add water .. yummy!
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John85851 (profile), 11 Mar 2016 @ 11:24am

Re:
But is it a net win? What happens to the plastic containers that the fruit is in? If the store is removing the skin because people throw the skin in the trash (instead of composting), won't these same people simply throw the plastic containers in the trash instead of recycling them?
Or are we singling out Whole Foods buyers because they're more environmentally friendly? :)
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JoeCool (profile), 11 Mar 2016 @ 1:48pm

Re: Re: Really???
Hmm - every single one is entitled "How to eat a banana like a monkey." Sorry, but just because one or two people want to imitate a monkey is no reason to claim there's any kind of great "argument" about a "right" way. Again, outside a couple videos on monkeys, NO ONE does it that way.
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Rekrul, 11 Mar 2016 @ 2:05pm

Re: Re: Re: Really???
Sorry, but just because one or two people want to imitate a monkey is no reason to claim there's any kind of great "argument" about a "right" way. Again, outside a couple videos on monkeys, NO ONE does it that way.

Not a "right" way, just an easier way to start the peeling process. I always used to do it the traditional way by bending the stem and hoping the peel cracks before I end up smushing the banana too badly. Then I saw one of the videos and started doing it that way. Pinching the bottom end easily splits the peel. The only down side is that there's a little hard brown bit at the bottom that you need to pinch off.
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