Vegetables: From soil to sealed
Remember when you used to pick your own vegetables at the supermarket, put them in a plastic bag, then take them to the counter to be weighed?
Apparently this practice is not convenient, hygienic, protective or appealing enough for modern supermarkets and shoppers. The idea of putting vegetables in a plastic tray, sealing the top with plastic film and bar-coding the package is becoming more widespread. It started with 'boutique' vegetables like imported mange tout, but nowadays even the most mundane vegetable gets the over-packaging treatment. We found plenty of examples at Sainsbury's:
Mange tout offer a classic example of the tray/clingfilm treatment. We are so used to seeing mange tout like this that we don't even notice it's abnormal!
Next comes the triple: sugarsnap, babycorn and 'tenderstem', all in separate compartments. But the 'tenderstem' moniker can't hide the fact that broccoli has been cunningly elevated to 'tray/clingfilm' status. A worrying trend!
'Casserole selection pack' - what's going on here? Since when did parsnips, carrots and potatoes need the protection of a ridged plastic tray?
And here you have it: the most mundane vegetable of all gets packaged! For centuries, potatoes had made their way from field to kitchen with no more protection than their own skins. But now JS Sainsbury has felt it necessary that they be separated into pairs and safely tucked into plastic trays.
I'm sorry to say this, Mr Sainsbury, but promoting recycling does not make up for this kind of waste. Most of these unnecessary plastic trays will end up as landfill. Even those that are sorted and recycled will waste energy in manufacture, transport and recycling. Keep it simple: get rid of the packaging!
TotallyWasted.org
Labels: Sainsbury's, vegetables
2 Comments:
And what about the lovely avocado bras that Sainsbury's offers? Admittedly, three is an unusual number of things to go in a bra but that's the only way to describe the moulded plastic trays (in co-ordinating green) these lucky fruit sit in, shielded from all those common parsnips and swedes. While some plastic trays work fine as seed trays, the rounded shape of these make them useless.
It's interesting to see all the packaging on fresh veggies in the UK. In the US we of course have ridiculous amounts of waste in pretty much every other type of food, but our produce is usually not pre-packaged. Produce is in bins and you just pick what you want. The stores do have little plastic baggies you can put produce in, but it's optional. The only exception is, ironically, organic produce. Those are wrapped up in plastic like you show here.
I look forward to reading more on your blog! Good luck drawing attention to the packaging issue and possibly changing things. Over here in the land of SUVs people don't think anything of excess. Sigh.
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