Plastic Bags Update

You've asked for less plastic...

We get it! It's awful for the environment... bags contribute lots of waste, they don't break down in landfills and are made using tons of fossil fuels. We also hate using them.

The thing is, they keep produce fresh longer. Especially for our Farm Share program, where bins sit out unrefrigerated for hours. Or at market, when the sun bakes produce on the tables.

So how do we both meet the desire to be more environmentally conscious, while maintaining produce quality? Here's what we found and what we've decided to do...

Options we've investigated

Compostable bags. Aka those green bags (you see them around for dog waste or shopping bags). We've used these in the past, but found that the produce takes on a weird "fishy" taste. While we tell people to take produce out the bag and transfer to something new at home, we know this extra step is usually missed. Plus, the shelf life of the veggies is much less compared to traditional plastic bags.

Biodegradable bags. Many biodegradable bags look like normal clear plastic bags but claim to break down better in landfills (meaning it meets ASTM D5511 or ASTM D6400 standards). However it's super tough to make sure that your bio bag ends up in a landfill that specifically meet these standards.

Paper bags. These won't cut it for wet produce, and we like offering ready-to-eat bagged greens.

HDFH Bags

We've made the decision to go with a clear, plant-based bag.

We use a manufacturer here in the United States (**Did you know that most eco-friendly options are out of Canada, the UK or Australia where bag laws are stricter; however, the new tariffs and shipping costs cause issues to us U.S. growers?). The bags we've selected use Braskem resin in their "plastic film". This is a biobased raw material made from sugarcane, instead of fossil fuel resources (oil, natural gas, or coal).

Still, we understand that there is no good solution post-consumption. We hope that as technology advances, and more folks & businesses invest eco-friendly products, we can keep working towards a solution.

Please note: eco-friendly bag options are more expensive (4 times pricier!). As a result we've adjusted our mixed green bag pricing.