Green Bags: the One Kitchen Tool CSA Members Must Have

Debbie Meyer Green bags kick ass.

I don’t usually swear in blogposts.

But this is an exception because… well, it’s just not enough to say, “Green bags are great.”

They really do kick ass.

And if you’re going to be in my CSA (or any CSA), you absolutely MUST have them in your kitchen storage arsenal.

They are a game-changer for extending the life of your produce.

What’s a Green bag? Only the most important CSA Kitchen Tool you can have.

BUY IT HERE: Debbie Meyer GreenBags Freshness-Preserving Food/Flower Storage Bags (Various Sizes, 20-Pack) (My Amazon Affiliate link)

Green Bags are made from a type of polymer that is designed (probably by some high-tech scientist) to absorb ethylene gas  — a gas which just happens to be emitted by all vegetables and fruits — some more so than others.

See it’s the ethylene gas that makes your food rot. So if you can SLOW IT DOWN, you’ll extend the life of your produce.

Bananas are one of the worst culprits. We’ve all experienced the blackening skin of the banana. In fact, unless you’re banana junkies, you probably only buy 4 at a time, because they just won’t last long enough.

But put a banana in the Green bag, and thanks to the ethylene absorbing magic, you can still have yellow bananas a week later, sometimes 10 days.

NO JOKE.

When you’re dealing with a box of farm-fresh vegetables, having Green bags may be the difference between enjoying everything in your box and having to send some items to the compost bin because you didn’t get to them in time.

I especially value them when it comes to preserving lettuce and fragile greens like arugula.

I am not kidding: if I wash the lettuce and spin it dry, then place it in a Green Bag with a dry paper towel… it will last  2 weeks in my fridge.

Berries like strawberries and raspberries last longer (especially if you treat them with a vinegar rinse too).

Tomatoes do well in the Green bags too.

With the Green Bag, you can just throw your veggie in the bag, put it on the counter or fridge, and trust that it will still be in great shape 2-3 weeks later when you finally get to it.

I don’t know about you, but in my house, when cooking dinner is sometimes an after-thought, buying myself time with some of the harder-to-use veggies makes all the difference.

I recommend Green Bags to ALL my CSA customers. In fact, if you’re a rookie in our program, you should absolutely make the investment. 

A box of 20 different sized bags (they come in small, medium, and large) will last you an entire calendar year, and it only costs around $8. I recommend the multi-pack I’ve linked up here in this blogpost.

You can even store your freshly baked bread in a green bag, and you’ll see the same miraculous results.

So if you’re doing CSA, do yourself a favor. Buy these Green bags. You’ll thank me later.

BUY THEM NOW! Debbie Meyer GreenBags Freshness-Preserving Food/Flower Storage Bags (Various Sizes, 20-Pack)

Wanna see the other kitchen tools that CSA Masters have to succeed at CSA? Subscribe below to download our PDF Cheatsheet of CSA Master Tools.