It was like Christmas I tell you.
Spring is here and it was pretty obvious that people are in the mood to buy fresh fruits and vegetables again.
I hope you are sitting down, because the pictures of the free food we were able to pick up from Mr. Produce Guy this week pretty much speak for themselves about what consumers expect when they buy fruits and veggies at the grocery store.
When you actually grow your own food, you look at fruits and vegetables a little differently. On a basic level, you know that everything you pull out of the soil, or pick off a tree or bush is not going to be perfect.
But when you go to the grocery store and have to pay $2 {or more} for a pint of raspberries, you expect every little berry in that tiny plastic clam shell to be without any blemishes.
Suddenly the thought of picking out 3 bad berries to save the rest of the bunch becomes unheard of.
3 bad blueberries ruined this container.
This cucumber was discard because it had a minor defect.
Twisted carrots? Who on earth would buy those? And the same goes for broken carrots too.
A little nick in an apple? How absurd. Who would pay full price for one of those?
I have no idea what was wrong with this organic lettuce.
Yep, nobody wants bad fruit. It’s useless. It should all be tossed. Not fit for human consumption. Nope. Not at all.
Maybe my standards are low, but all this still looked edible to me.
~Mavis
Would you like to see what other FREE food I have brought home over the past 11 months?
Head on over HERE to read all the past stories and to see all the pictures.
If you have just stumbled upon this series and are wondering how I got all this food for free, you’ll want to read this story first.
To read more on the topic of food waste. Check out the book Waste: Uncovering the Global Food Scandal
Heather S. says
I bet your glad you kept him around 🙂 — back to major smoothie season!
Cecily says
If your bananas are over ripe you can put them in the planting hole before you plant your artichokes. They love the potassium.
Mavis says
Really? How cool. Thanks Cecily.
Jana Williamson says
Looks perfectly good to me and I would love to know how to get free organic produce for me and my family. Our grocers are just not that generous.
Jenn says
I always try and buy produce that has a few blemishes on it. To keep the grocery stores from throwing it out. It makes me so mad at how much food is thrown away, that is still good. Hopefully, this year my garden will actually produce some stuff for us to eat. Last year it was a pretty bad flop. But you have inspired me Mavis!
Susan says
Nice haul! 🙂
christie says
To Jenn: Great idea to be the one “willing” to buy the “blemished” fruit.
To Mavis: I think the twisted carrotts are cool ! I bet if people had to pick those raspberries they wouldn’t look so bad! We do lots of U Pick berries in the summer. Those white spots are just like “freckles” or a little sunburn…
To Mavis: I have been reading about dehydrating potatoes. Have you ever tried it ?
~ Christie
P.S. Went to the local landscape supply store to price out garden soil etc. They sell lots of rock products. They have lots of pallets. He sells them for $5 or less. He said if I only needed one or two that he would just give them to me !
Mavis says
Cool beans on the pallets! I’m going to dehydrate potatoes this summer and I’m super excited about it! 🙂
Herdog says
Christie –
Dehydrated spud are the best and easy. Go for it, espacally if you can get them cheep. Just make sure you blanch first. These make the BEST scallop potatoes and you can make you own boxed scallop mixes, stored in qt. jars. Have fun and good luck!
Amy says
That’s amazing. I regularly see produce that looks like that for sale at full price. At a grocery store that I consider to have high standards. Love your blog. I’m a fellow gardener and have found nothing but useful information here! Thank you for all you do!
Tanya says
That is a seriously lovely haul of produce! Makes me want fresh berries but I’m not willing to pay what they want for them at this time of year.
Sarah M. says
Holy cow, great score! It’s funny how exciting it is, but also so sad, just knowing how much edible food is going into the garbage all over the country.
I found a bag of 3 organic mangoes in the “scratch and dent’ section of our grocery store this week. One had a couple of wrinkles, but they were all so sweet and delicious! I paid 99 cents for all 3. Wish I’d picked up the other 2 bags that were there.
christie says
To Mavis:
The recipes I read for dehydrated potatoes … boiled the potatoes first. Let cool overnite. Then shred. Put in dehydrator overnight. Keep in mason jars with a little packet to keep things dry. ( Can’t think what that is called. desicant ?) I’ve read the same recipe for potatoes that freezes them after shredding. This is supposed to be the secret to great hash browns. ; )
funny thing: the family that owns the landscape supply business also has a farm. They sell their own beef and pork out of a deep freezer. I’m gonna try some!
Mavis says
I was thinking about slicing them for scalloped potatoes. What do you think?
Christine says
So jealous! I wish I could find a man like yours or that my grocery store would put out a “second-hand” bin to buy produce at reduced costs. The local store manager tells me they are composting the veggies, but the guy pulling the day old bananas off the shelves says otherwise. Grrr, the store makes me so mad.
Lisa says
Wahooo! You hit the berry jackpot! Enjoy all your FREE produce! 🙂
Crystal says
I wonder if some stuff, like the lettuce that looks just fine, is discarded because they dropped it on the ground when stocking the shelves?
Samantha M. says
Our supermarket has a little shelf hidden away where they put fruit and veg just a little past their prime at a heavily discounted price. I guess before throwing it away. I have a great time raiding it and now have my husband trained, he came back the other day with 10 bags of red sweet peppers in, 3 peppers per bag at only 25c a bag. So for 2.50 I have a mountain of peppers to cut up and freeze and I honestly can’t see a thing wrong with any of them other than a small mark here or there.
MaMaLaLa says
What do you normally do with all the iceberg lettuce- we don’t eat that kind of lettuce, so I have no clue how your family uses it.
Does most of it go to chickens? Do you spread the wealth to neighbors? A favorite recipe for iceberg (that isn’t lettuce wraps)?
What a score!
Mavis says
tacos, salad or chopped with a little salad dressing. I also share with the neighbors and give them rest to the chickens.
Tali says
while I would be thrilled to cut off any spoiled or blemished part of a produce I got for free (like when my friends have too much produce) I will not pay full price for the same said one at the store. I open the strawberry pack to make sure none is growing a ‘beard’.
Kristin says
So jealous! I haven’t found any store near me that will do that.
Herdog says
My Lettuce is in between stages and had to buy some red leaf today AT $2.99/ head. It Kills me having to pay that. I won’t be letting my lettuce lag in growth again. At least it was a larger head.
Mindy says
That’s just insanity. I wish I could find a local store that would pass on even a quarter of that.
It kinda makes me sick to my stomach though – that much food was destined for a landfill when it could be feeding people who can’t afford to buy fresh produce.
Insanity.
Susie says
I’ve seen SO much iceberg lettuce in your reclaimed boxes, and I keep meaning to post this ~ I would saute up that chopped lettuce like you would any other green, in some olive oil with garlic, hot pepper flakes, salt & pepper, maybe a little stock. And here’s a good lettuce soup recipe: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Lettuce-Soup-231995
Helen in Meridian says
I am so glad you faithfully arrive at a set time to get the Animal Food for your chickens. You have proven your produce man wrong, when he said that people would not come at a weekly set time to get the Chicken Feed. You both have been faithful to the agreement. What are you going to give him for an Anniversary Present?
Mavis says
Hey, I had not thought about a 1 year anniversary present. I bake things for him occasionally, so I’ll have to do something a little different. Do you have any ideas?
Pam says
Most of the ‘big box’ stores all tell me they ‘donate’ their ‘overripe’ produce to the food banks….and/or compost it….ummmm?
Emma says
Back where I grew up, in southern Sweden, lots of stores put their less than perfect fruit in a basket, free for children to munch on inside the store (their standards for perfection are a lot lower than your grocer’s, though – all of that would have been sold there even though the bananas on the bottom are pushing it).