"In this entry I want to address an issue that we have heard a couple of times. Some of you may have noticed that certain items seem to spoil faster than we think they should. On this point, the Mayo Clinic says:
"Organic foods meet the same quality and safety standards as conventional foods. The difference lies in how the food is produced, processed and handled. You may find that organic fruits and vegetables spoil faster because they aren't treated with waxes or preservatives. Also, expect less-than-perfect appearances in some organic produce — odd shapes, varying colors and perhaps smaller sizes. In most cases, however, organic foods look identical to their conventional counterparts."
Since we started using organic produce we have had to commit ourselves to eating it more often. This helps us both nutritionally and in terms of earlier spoilage. Additionally, we have tried to make sure we eat those items earlier that tend to spoil faster than others.
However, we do not expect the produce to be bad the day of pick up or even in the next few days. Therefore, if the quality of your items is unacceptable please let us know which items and how many as soon as possible after pick-up. On the next co-op day you will be able to take some extra items from the swap table to "self-compensate." But please let us know before hand so that we can have a good idea on each co-op day how much of the swap table will need to be allocated to compensate for produce "challenges."
