Tips & Guides

The Imperfect Foods Grocery Storage Guide

Did you know that nearly 40% of food waste happens at home? Spoiled food happens to the best of us, but learning to store your groceries properly can help them last much longer, meaning you can stop food waste before it starts.

Plus, getting to know your food better as a plant or animal—rather than just an ingredient—might even give you a greater appreciation for all that went into producing it. Here’s our handy storage guide in a downloadable PDF format to help you make the most of every grocery that comes into your kitchen.

Counter Intuitive

Fruits like apples, pears, and bananas naturally release ethylene gas as they ripen, which makes nearby produce ripen, too. You can use this to your advantage to make a stubborn avocado or peach ripen faster! Stick the item you’d like to ripen in a paper bag alongside an apple or banana. It should be ready in a day or two.
That same process can also cause veggies to spoil sooner than you’d like. Store fruits and vegetables separate to prevent premature ripening.

Ethylene gas can also speed up the wilting of flowers! If you want a bouquet to really last, it might be worth purchasing one from a farmer’s market or local flower shop rather than at the supermarket where it’s been living within feet of all those bananas.
Store counter items loose (meaning not in a plastic bag) and away from sunlight, heat, and moisture.
Keep tomatoes at room temperature to preserve their flavor, texture, and aroma.
Basil and mint are one of the few herbs that don’t tolerate cold temperatures. Keep them on the counter in a jar of water like a bouquet of flowers.
Store your oil away from heat and light. These can make it go rancid faster.
Citrus will last longer in the fridge but taste better at room temperature. As a good compromise, store citrus fruits in the fridge to preserve it and bring it to room temp before using.

Party in the Pantry

Separate onions and potatoes. Gasses from the onions will make potatoes sprout and moisture from the potatoes will make the onions turn soft! A delicious pair in an egg scramble, but not meant to live together.
Nuts are fine in the pantry for the short term, but if you’ve got too many of them to finish in a few weeks or months, stash them in the freezer to make them last longer.
Pre-ground spices are less flavorful and will go bad faster than whole spices. If you can, buy whole spices and grind them yourself. A small mortar and pestle or spice grinder works great for most things.

Fridge Facts

Always refrigerate cut or peeled produce.
The door of your fridge tends to be warmer than the shelves. To be sure temperature-sensitive foods like milk and eggs stay fresh as long as possible, store them on the shelves rather than in the door.
Leafy greens like kale, chard, and lettuce will dry out and wilt if they’re stored “naked” in the fridge. Store lettuce in foil, loose greens in a container with a cloth napkin, and kale wrapped in a slightly damp dish towel in the fridge.
Store herbs like parsley and cilantro in a jar of water in the fridge like cut flowers.
Store mushrooms in a paper bag in the fridge so they can breathe.
If your carrots, beets, or radishes come with the tops on, take them off before putting them away. Those leafy tops will pull water from the vegetable and make them go bad faster.
And while you have them, don’t toss the tops! Carrot tops taste very similar to parsley, beet tops are almost identical to chard, and radish greens taste a lot like arugula. Add them to sautéed veggies, soups, or salads.

Freezer Fancy

The freezer isn’t just for ice cream! Use your freezer to extend the life of leftovers you can’t finish or veggies you’ve bought too much of.
Before you freeze, label and date everything so you can see what you need to eat up first—and so you remember exactly what’s in that mystery container.
Freeze extra fruit like bananas or berries to use up in smoothies.
Freeze your veggie scraps like celery leaves, carrot scraps, onion peels, and fennel stalks. Once you have enough to fill a pot, make your own veggie stock!

Download our storage guide PDF to learn even more about making your food last longer. Many folks in our community even print it out and keep it on their fridge for easy reference. Plus, if you ever have questions, we’re hap-pea to help. Ask us on social!