The Importance of Washing your Produce

I once mentioned to you I use a product wash to clean my produce.  But even if you don’t feel you don’t want to buy a product to clean your fresh fruits and veggies, I wanted to show you how much dirt and grime is released from the produce you purchase.

It’s important to clean all produce because of the dirt, the insects and all the man-handling your produce goes through before reaching your home.  But if you buy organic produce, this is as important, because when no pesticides are used, many insects and bugs can lodge in your produce. 

For fruits and vegetables I clean them under the faucet.  But for lettuces and leafy greens, fill your clean sink or a large bowl with fresh water and let the leaves soak for a few minutes.  Swish them gently with your hands as a delicate washer.  After a few minutes, you’ll see how much dirt and grime falls to the bottom.  You need to make sure you have enough water so the leaves will float and have space to release the dirt.

Imagine… if you didn’t wash them, you would be eating all that!!!!

I clean my lettuces in the bowl of my salad spinner.  I fill it with water, swish it, drain it, move it into the colander thing that spins in the spinner, place the colander thing inside the bowl and spin it away.  You’ll have clean and dry lettuce in no time.