How many times has this happened to you? You've decided to make a salad; so you reach into the refrigerator to grab a bag of carrots, celery, whatever -- and what you pull out looks more like a Gumby doll than a vegetable.
Refrigerator manufacturers are working on the problem -- a number of them are unveiling new models with fancy new technology aimed at keeping fruits and vegetables fresher longer. And, as you might have assumed, they're not cheap.
Sub-Zero Inc. is debuting a line that utilizes air purifiers to keep down the levels of ethylene gasses (which cause premature ripening and spoilage). Those babies -- pictured above -- will run between $6,500 and $11,000. On the more affordable end of the spectrum, Whirlpool recently released a line of fridges with "6th Sense Cooling." These models also aim at keeping food fresher longer and cost between $1,499 and $1,949.
All of this is from an article in the Wall Street Journal.
From the article:
The average U.S. household wastes 14% of its food purchases, which totals about $600 per year. And poor food storage is part of the problem. A study released last summer by the non-profit England-based Waste & Resources Action Programme concluded that two-thirds of food waste in the U.K. could be avoided if food were better managed and stored.
That is a lot of wasted food.
Do you have trouble eating your fruits and veggies before they go bad? Would you consider investing in one of these new fridges? (Especially when some of the scientists aren't even sure these new models will help us cut down on food waste?)
Get the whole story here.
(Thanks to Jonathan for the tip!)
Copyright © 2008 Apartment Therapy
a couple of tricks for keeping stuff fresh for a lot less than a fancy new fridge: Carrots I wash and stick in a mason jar, lid on. Celery gets the bottom trimmed off and then goes into a cup of water. Herbs go into a glass of water with a plastic bag rubber-banded over the top, they'll last a couple of weeks that way, even delicate ones like cilantro.
Don't ever store apples with other fruits and veg, it'll hasten the ripening process.
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Good tips Tiamat. We do the same with asparagus - cut off the bottoms and store them in a glass of water.
It would be good if this sort of research was pursued by academics so that the cost was publicly funded and didn't translate into super-expensive fridges.
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