Buy It And Try It: The Green Bags

Debbie Meyer's Green Bags claims to be the ultimate produce saver, so
let's see if it works.

At Cosumnes River College, instructor Cynthia Torres teaches culinary
arts management. Part of that is knowing how long food stays fresh --
especially produce.

"Produce doesn't store very long," Torres said.

Maybe, until now. The commercial for Debbie Meyers Green Bags claims
the enemy is a gas the produce creates, causing it to spoil. A mineral
in the green bags is supposed to remove that gas, keeping your fruits
and vegetables fresh longer.

Some students help us with our test, and they've got quite a spread of
produce: green beans, zucchini, broccoli, cilantro and parsley.

We decide that we'll divide up each type of produce three ways,
between the regular store bags, the Green Bags, and just refrigerating
the produce in an open bin, which is how they normally store produce
here at the school.

They take their three samples and put them in the refrigerator, and we
come back nine days later. There's a clear difference in the produce.

"The Green Bag is definitely the winner here," said Torres.

She says she'd still eat everything in the Green Bags. Everything
still appears fresh.

But what about the store bags? "I would take these to my trash can and
deposit them there," she said.

All of it seems to be spoiling, and all the stuff stored open in the
refrigerator seems to be drying out.

We come back on day 21. Everything in the Green Bags is still edible
except for the green beans, which are now molding.

"Three weeks is a long time for green beans, so that's pretty normal,"
Torres said. "Look at the broccoli, parsley, zucchini, it's all firm."

The produce stored the other way… they wouldn't eat at all.

"We definitely have a clear winner," she said. "The green bags clearly
are a winner.

I paid $9.95 plus shipping and handling for 20 of these bags and
bought it from GreenBags.com.