by T. K. Pippin

Created on: January 15, 2009   Last Updated: January 17, 2010

With health and fitness concerns growing, fresh fruits and vegetables are recommended to give us the added nutrients we need with less fat and cholesterol. But with the economy in bad shape, prices are going up while our pocket books are shrinking and most of us can't afford as much of those high-priced fresh foods as we'd like. If you're anything like me, bell peppers might sit in the fridge up to two weeks waiting to be used, then get thrown out due to mold and spoilage. This costs extra money because not only did the peppers that were first bought get wasted but fresh ones have to be bought to replace them.

However, Debbie Meyers proposes a solution to this dilemma. With her patented Green Bags, she claims you'll never need to throw out your produce again!

I decided to purchase my Green Bags through a mail-order company paying $9.95 plus the 6.95 P&H. When making any order, whether from a store, by mail, phone or internet, there's always a 30-day money-back guarantee, so you can return the bags for a refund if you're not satisfied.

With my order the 10 bags were doubled to 20 bagsten 15 1/4"x5 3/4" medium-sized and ten 17"x7 " large-sized bags, about the size of conventional food storage bags. They appeared exactly as shown on television, but I was disappointed that there wasn't a better container for storage other than the clear plastic bag they arrived in. Still, they fit fine in my kitchen drawer and I was kind of glad that I didn't have another box to shove in there.

The first thing I tried in my Green Bags were bananas. I cleaned them off, put them in the bag and folded it loosely at the end since you're not supposed to tie, twist or clip the bags. For two weeks the bananas stayed fresh in the bag. I took one banana out of the bag to work with me, but didn't end up eating it and left it out over night. The exposure caused the banana to brown, so it seems they must be kept in the bags until ready to be eaten, or returned promptly to avoid rapid deterioration.

Upon trying several different types of produce such as tomatoes which did very well for 3 weeks; eggplant, which I kept two weeks; jalapenos, bell peppers and a salad, which stayed crisp a month after the purchase date - I knew these bags were special.

The instructions for the Green Bags say to continue to wipe off moisture as it accumulates on produce, which I didn't do on the majority and still got great results. I did find, however, that zucchini and squash need to be dried off more

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