The COVID-19 pandemic is taking its toll on everybody. The food supply chain is no exception.

People are buying non-perishable items and household items, like toilet paper, in large quantities—sometimes in excess. Fresh produce has seen an increase in purchases, but not at the same rate as the rest of the stores in most parts of the country.

We believe there are some MYTHS about fresh produce—and fresh leafy greens in particular—that we hope to dispel and encourage you to make fresh an ongoing priority in your buying decisions.

Myth 1: Fresh produce won’t keep long.

While it’s true that fresh produce is highly perishable, many fresh produce items have longer shelf lives than you may think. Here are some examples:

• Apples: up to 2 months in fridge

• Beets: up to 2 weeks in fridge

• Butternut: up to 6 months, in a cool dark place

• Cabbage: up to 4-5 weeks in fridge

• Citrus: up to 3-4 weeks in fridge

• Leafy Greens: up to 2 weeks in fridge

  source: Lindsey Janeiro, RDN: https://www.instagram.com/p/B9p4uzVJhft/

Solution: Use what you can, freeze the rest.

If you buy in bulk and you’re worried about wasting money, find ways to freeze items so that you can use them later.

For fresh dark leafy greens, consider making the following:

• Pesto pucks: blend together a pesto mix like this kale pesto, and freeze in pucks. Store in freezer safe bag.

• Smoothie pucks: blend a base mix of leafy greens and water; then freeze in pucks and store in a freezer safe bag.

• Blanching and freezing: blanche leafy greens for a few minutes by placing in boiling water for 1-2 minutes, then removing and placing in ice-bath. Finally, put in freezer safe bag with a cup of water or broth.

Myth 2: Fresh produce is currently a carrier of COVID-19.

According to United Fresh and PMA in a joint statement, “There are no clinically confirmed cases of COVID-19 linked to the consumption of fresh produce or food sold through traditional retail outlets. As consumers select their produce, adhering to food safety guidance is critical. We encourage consumers to wash their hands, and wash and prepare their produce following FDA recommendations.”

Solution: Steps to take to maintain caution.

1. Wash hands frequently, including after a trip to the grocery store;

2. Resist the urge to “manipulate” produce items on bulk displays, despite touching different items being a typical part of the selection process;

3. Avoid bulk produce if immune-compromised, choosing packaged produce as an added caution, or cook the produce before eating; and

4. Wash produce thoroughly.

   source: Scott Monroe, a Purdue University Extension food safety educator and Amanda Deering, an Extension specialist at Purdue University Department of Food Science: https://www.thepacker.com/article/no-reason-avoid-fresh-produce-during-outbreak

Myth 3: Fresh produce supply is in danger.

We are currently in the midst of a season change, and in particular, a change into warmer weather. This means that more growing land will become increasingly available to farmers across the country as temperatures warm up. There is currently an abundance of food and fresh produce in the food supply, and barring any severely drastic changes, the fresh produce food supply will remain strong.

Solution: Growers are taking all possible steps to make sure the food supply stays strong.

At WP Rawl, we are actively monitoring the situation daily. We are committed to continuing to grow, harvest, pack, and ship farm fresh leafy greens in the safest ways possible to keep our team members, our customer partners, our communities, and everyone who purchases our products as safe as possible through this.

• This includes additional cleaning actions in our office buildings, plants, and warehouses.

• Additional measures taken to limit chance of spread within our guest worker housing.

• Additional measures with our truck drivers abroad and with outside carriers arriving at our facilities.

Fresh produce farms are already highly trained in industry-best food safety practices. At WP Rawl, we’ve made food safety a top priority for decades. We will continue to make changes necessary to adapt to this dynamic situation, and we remain committed to our mission of providing fresh, wholesome vegetables from our family farm to you.

If you have any questions or concerns about fresh leafy greens, please message us on Facebook @WPRawl or email us at info@rawl.net

*This is a developing situation. We are not experts or authorities on COVID-19 and are not claiming to be. Information shared in this blog post is subject to change as COVID-19 is a dynamic, ongoing situation. For up to date, exact information about current happenings and best practices with COVID-19, please visit (WHO) https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019, (CDC) https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-nCoV/index.html, and (FDA) https://www.fda.gov/emergency-preparedness-and-response/mcm-issues/coronavirus-disease-2019-covid-19.