Do you wash your fruits and vegetables before you eat them
No one did it for you
I will confess, many years ago I was guilty of adding vegetables to my cooking without washing them first. I felt It was a harmless shortcut. My thought process went something like ” they wouldn’t let these be sold if they had something on there that was harmful”. Or “it will be hot enough during cooking that anything on there will be killed”.
To some extent, my thinking was a sign of the times. When people in my age group started cooking we were not being reminded every day that germs were out there waiting to get us. We didn’t have health advisories on the news every day about our food. And quite honestly we were often picking something from our own garden or buying from a fruit stand around the corner. Maybe it wasn’t as important that we washed everything before we ate them.
But at some point as I got older I thought about the germs and bacteria and other creepy things that were no doubt living the good life on my produce. My innocent looking green pepper was probably crawling with them and unless I wanted these undesirables swimming in my spaghetti sauce, I needed to evict them. Since that light bulb moment, I have been rinsing those unwanted guests down the drain with plenty of very warm water.
It doesn’t take much effort or time to wash before you eat your fruits and vegetables.
Think about where it has been
Just think of how many people handle your fruits and vegetables before they find their way to your kitchen. There are hands that pick them in the field and more that pack them for shipment. More hands get them on and off the truck during transport. And still more hands put them out for you to buy in your produce department. Where have all of those hands been??
You could avoid getting sick
When I hear on the news that some kind of produce has made people sick I wonder how many people had already gotten sick before they figured out that particular item was contaminated? Now more than ever washing your fruits and vegetables before you eat or cook with them is something you really should be doing.
Nature’s bounty is supposed to be good for you. But when it is covered in pesticides, sprayed with wax, sneezed and coughed on, you have to wonder if the good is outweighing the bad.
But fear not, unlike some other things in life, there IS a simple fix. Wash before you eat, and wipe the bad stuff off. One of the best reasons to cook dinner at home is so you know what’s in the food you are eating. Not washing your produce totally defeats that purpose.
Have your wash cloths and tools close by
It’s definitely true that old habits die hard. But the good news is that good habits grow on you pretty quick. Make a habit of washing the yuck off, instead of eating it.
There’s a bowl on my counter with things that I use only for washing fruits and vegetables. I also keep a clean towel nearby to wipe after I wash. Some produce should get a good scrubbing, like potatoes, or celery. And some other produce like scallions, or tomatoes can only tolerate a rinse and a gentle wipe. That’s why my bowl has a variety of things to wash with.
And let us not forget another trusty washing tool, that won’t fit in my bowl; a colander like the one in the feature picture. There are fruits and vegetables that you can’t scrub and dry, like green beans, broccoli, berries. Toss them around gently in the colander under warm running water and rinse thoroughly.
This is my “food washing stuff” bowl, but it doesn’t look like this in real life. I used this post as my excuse to get new stuff. Usually most of my cleaning tools look very overworked.
The dish towel is there because drying with a clean towel finishes the job that washing started.
When all is said and done, you aren’t adding much time or effort to your task. You are just killing two birds with one stone. After all, you are already at the sink washing your hands before you cook…..Aren’t You ???? 🤨