Tuesday, August 3, 2010

Another Angry Produce Rant

When I started our garden one of my goals was to be able rely less on the produce section of the grocery store. I think about this every week when I fill my cart with grocery store produce. I'm already feeling a bit defeated when I'm squeezing cucumbers and eyeballing carrots so it doesn't take much to drive me over the edge.

You may have read about my anger with banana stickers, bell pepper packaging and cereal, but now I have a couple more things to add to my produce rage.

Have you seen these plastic-wrapped potatoes in your grocery store?


They're right next to the regular ole' naked potatoes, but these have been shrink-wrapped with a label and plastic wrap and cost about twice as much as a regular potato. I always think no one buys these bizarre products, but as I was standing there allowing my 6-year-old to pick out 2 lbs of potatoes for a recipe and watching him painstakingly evaluate every potato in the rack, I saw people leaning over us and putting these plastic potatoes in their carts.

The allure is that you can put them right in the microwave!!! Can you believe it?? If only the naked potatoes right next to them could also be microwaved. Ohhhh wait. They can be. Maybe these ones in the plastic are pre-washed? Maybe that's the allure? And it's not just a potato - it's a PotatOH! There's a sweet potato and russet potato brand - both mention they're available in 5-7 minutes due to their awesome microwavability. Yes, really.

Next time I visit the grocery store I'm bringing a Post-It note with me to place on the regular potatoes that says


If this wasn't enough, I also bought some baby carrots, which are a staple around here. It wasn't until I got home and was ripping them open that I noticed the awesome little sticker on the package:

"PLANT YOUR OWN CROPS…"


Awesome! A carrot package encouraging us to garden! Wait a minute... Farmville. Really? So we're buying pre-packaged baby carrots and now we're learning that we can plant our own crops in Farmville. Cyber crops. Cyber carrots.

I need an intervention.

Or a more successful garden.

******


For anyone with a morbid curiosity, here's a link to the PotatOH! website so you can learn all about these amazing plastic potatOHs.

20 comments:

Ribbit said...

It's disgusting, isn't it.

K9-CRAZY said...

Funny, yet so sad.

Kalena Michele said...

Whoa. This is insane. lol

Kelly said...

My problem is with the microwaving in plastic wrap, more than the product itself. It is 'convenience food', only one that is still in it's raw state - which I think beats the alternatives. "Baby" carrots, another convenience food. I wish your garden was growing better for you Kate. Maybe that Farmeville stuff would prove to be a good oulet for your vegetable stress- HA! (If only!) ;)

Stefaneener said...

FanTAStic. Next we'll have pre-chopped onions. Oh, no, we have those. And not only diced, but packaged in a little round container, so you have ring slices ready for your burger. Because, you know, no one uses knives any more.

Aaaiiiiieeeeeee.

Someone's getting paid to come up with more and more convenient packaging for "real" food.

And yes, as Kelly says, it's the plastic + microwave thing that is so potentially toxic. Bleah.

Melissa E. said...

That is the silliest thing I ever heard of. And to think, someone is making money off of saran wrapping a potato.

meemsnyc said...

A plastic wrapped potato! What the heck. What a waste!

daisy g said...

I am right there with you Kate.

Dani said...

BAWAHAHAHHAHA!!!!

Erin said...

I hate Farmville! I block all that stuff on my FB because it just gets my blood pressure up! I would TOTALLY put that sticker on the non-plasticated potatoes LOL! Carrots are the one thing I do have to buy from the store, there's no way I could grow enough, I can barely manage 4 or 5! I will be sure not to buy carrots raised in Farmville :)

Cheryl said...

It makes some people feel good to go to the store and buy whatever tickles their fancy. Those are the people that kind of product caters to, not us wise people that know you're not getting anything special, you're just paying for packaging.

Unknown said...

I quit playing Farmville because they won't let you have fuel unless you hand over your email address.

I don't think I'll buy their carrots. No telling what else was in the dirt where they planted them.

And by the way - your post is hilarious!!!! LOL

Blender Diet said...

lol.. that is hilarious. I will be on the lookout for your post-it note when I visit the grocery. :)

Unknown said...

Amen!!

You know, you with your produce rants and me with my anti "club card" and Walmart scanner devices in the jeans so they can track every little thing you've ever purchased in your life rant...we just might make a good pres/vice combo and could take over the world, i tell you!

Seriously, maybe drum up a coalition of friends and barage, er, um, visit the produce manager.

And keep teaching those those boys the good fight--they'll be the saving grace to our future!

Anonymous said...

We could be twins...I thought I was the only one who gets all crazy at the grocery. it literally stresses me out. I guess that's why we live off of tomatoes, lettuce,cucumbers and beans all summer:) That and the Farmers Market of course where I refuse to take a bag or packaging

Lo said...

send me that sticker.....

Unknown said...

I don't think they sell those plastic wrapped Potatoes in South Florida. I have never seen them. What the heck I scrub my taters and then wrap them in a paper towel (only as a precaustion from the dredded exploding microwave potato) I have also have wet them down good and roll in koshier salt (just like Outback restaurant.
What gets me is the pre-packaged SALADS that have the worse smell and taste to them. WHO eats these things? I get a bunch of fresh veggies from my neighbors garden in the Spring and Fall which is great.

Wendy said...

ooh, I'm not sure whether to laugh or rant with you! Farmville. hummm...

Ann said...

Can you imagine? I heard you can buy FC Cash cards at Walmart now - Farmville has invaded real life. I admit I played it for awhile, but I had to give it up once spring and real life gardening chores took over!!

As for that microwavable packaging, sometimes I'll buy green beans that are packaged that way at Trader Joe's - but I always open the bag, go through them, cut them up and steam them. I don't use my microwave like that, I hardly use it at all....

A.G. said...

I actually DO play FarmVille (in part to live vicariously through pixels until I'm back on my own land) and I remember when they started the FarmVille/Carrots campaign. The idea was to get kids eating carrots. If their parents bought them the carrots, they could use the code on the sticker to gain FV items or FV cash. They were hoping it might work in the same way kids apparently enjoy Kids Meals because they come with a free toy. I fail to see the logic in either case, as it seems to me kids like the FOOD and the "fun" aspect of going out to eat, and see the toy as a bonus, not the other way around.

Blog Widget by LinkWithin