This picture of a bag containing two potatoes illustrates the total disconnect that now exists between town and country; potatoes are planted in the spring and are harvested during the summer and autumn. The potato plant grows from a potato, from one seed potato a plant grows that produces many other potatoes. It stands to reason that a potato must last from harvest to planting season if there are to be any potatoes at all next year. The potato is stored in heaps in sheds out of the frost, traditionally they were clamped in the field, a clamp was made by placing straw over brushwood laid on the field, piling up the potatoes in a mound or ridge then covering with straw as thatch to keep the potatoes dry and frost free; the whole lot was then covered with soil to keep animals and other thieves out.
Someone has decided to doubt the wisdom of this plan and has decided that a potato is perishable to the extent that it can be displayed for sale for just a few days and then must be advertised as "best before" a couple of days hence.
I assume those potatoes "past their sell by date" will be shunned by the city shopper, withdrawn from sale by the city shelf stacker/unstacker and destroyed; I wonder if a city type council prodnose would prosecute the shop for selling "out-of-date" produce.
No wonder we oldies shake our grey or greying heads and wonder what the world is coming to.
2 comments:
Indeed. Potatoes aren't designed to be kept in plastic (FFS!) bags. All fruit and veg needs is some cold, dryish ventilation and no light. I find a sturdy cardboard box in the garage is ideal once the plastic is removed and discarded.
I bought a jar of honey recently and that had a best before date as well. Honey lasts about as long as the glass jar it's sold in.
Potatoes are the ultimate comfort vegetable. Our potatoes are sold in bags here too, but they sell out almost immediately. Of course, when we really want some...we just go knock on our neighbors door(the farmer) and ask. All farmers share here. In return, an we offer snow shoveling, helping repair the fence line etc.
It's good to live in a small town.
Good folks here.
:)
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