Local Food Share
Local Food Share
Making the Most of Your GoFarm Food
1. Store
We suggest prepping all of your GoFarm produce as soon as you get home- i.e. remove the tops from the root veggies, rinse and dry the greens, and put the refrigerator foods in their own containers. This process will give you a great sense of what's in the share and how it looks at its freshest. It only takes 5-10 minutes and afterwards everything will be ready on-hand to eat and salads will be half-way done!
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Remember, excess moisture can cause produce to deteriorate, so it is best to store your fruits and veggies dry, and wash them just before use. There are many ways to store fresh food, but this is what we have found works best!
2. Eat
When eating local, you might discover new foods that you've never tried before. Have no fear! Visit our Recipe Blog to find exciting ways to enjoy your GoFarm food.
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There are also some tricks you can use to keep your food from going bad in your kitchen. Prep and eat your food from least hearty to most hearty, prioritizing eating the foods that will go bad the quickest, first.
How It Works
Hierarchy of Freshness
1. Salad: The more tender the green, the quicker it can go bad. The drier you can keep your lettuces, the longer they’ll last (salad spinners, or paper towels that absorb moisture can help). Plan to have a salad on the nights you pickup your food and you’ll never waste your greens again!
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2. Hearty greens: Collards, kale, beet greens, turnip greens, chard, etc., will last several days longer than lettuces, but you’ll want to eat them fairly soon, within 2-3 days.
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3. Fruits: Think tomatoes, peppers, summer squash, melon, beans, cucumbers, eggplant -basically anything with seeds inside (with the exception of winter squash). These tender fruits are susceptible to shriveling, eat them within 3-4 days, if you can even wait that long!
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4. Roots: Take the greens off the root veggies and store separately in a plastic bag or air-tight container where they’ll last for up to a week. Pro tip: if your roots get rubbery, you can soak them in cold water in the fridge to crisp them back up. These guidelines are also true for "crunchy" veggies such as celery, asparagus, broccoli, cabbage, and asparagus.
5. Onions, potatoes, pumpkins, winter squash: These hearty veggies (also known as storage crops) can survive on your counter for weeks or months, as long as they are kept cool and not exposed to too much sunlight. Use them up before they start to sprout or shrivel. If your potatoes turn green, it's time to compost them!
3. Compost
Now that you are an integral part of your local food system, you might consider where the waste goes. Instead of throwing veggie scraps (onion skins, pepper cores, etc.) in the trash, these items can be composted and turned back into soil. Bring your scraps in a compostable bag when you come to pick up your share each week, and we'll send it off to city composting!
Produce Storage Guide
