In my opinion, one of the greatest inventions of modern time is pre-cut and packaged fresh fruit and vegetables. Yes, they are more pricey than their canned and frozen counterparts, but given a choice, I would pay the extra for the extra prep work because I'd like to just start eating the goodies, or toss them in a big salad bowl for brunch and make it look like I spent time in the kitchen doing all the prep work myself. Saving time is a big deal!
Because of the fresh salad bar and pre-cut and packaged fresh fruit and vegetables concepts, I eat more of the stuff. When you work all day, the idea of peeling carrots, cutting off ends and tops, and skinning fruit makes me more tired. Yes, like many at the end of the day I'm wanting instant gratification or I'm just feeling lazy and it's so much easier to just pick up a tub of pineapple or shelled edamame. I especially love the ready to eat cantaloupe, pineapple, and green melon because I have a hard time skinning and cutting those fruits up.
All the fresh packaged produce also helped me snack healthier at work where it's so easy to grab a bag of chips or cookies. Because the fruit and veggies come in small containers, they can easily fit into the work fridge and not take up almost no space. To save on money, sometimes I would split a tub with a co-worker who wanted to snack healthy too.
The thing though is when you get the fresh cut stuff that doesn't have preservatives in it, you must eat them right away because it will start to go bad faster than it's preservative coated friends. As well, the more time the cut produce is exposed to the air, their enzyme goodness starts to deteriorate. Enjoy your fruits and veggies right away and feel good knowing your getting some good nutrients.
