"Fresh is Best" for #FruitAndVegetables?

Supporting local businesses and buying fresh #fruit and #vegetables are always high on the agenda, but this concerned my friends and I while walking along #CarlisleStreet, #Balaclava the other night.

 

This long standing Green Grocer is a family business with competitive prices, and the staff are always really friendly. But it is a bit of a worry that they leave their stock outside in the little arcade over night (See photo below).

 

This arcade, that is a walk-through between Carlisle Street and the #Coles car park, is locked at night at both ends and has a roof to protect from rain.  However, the metal gates that close each end of the arcade only stop people from getting in. 

 

Surely the uncovered fruit and vegetables are still exposed to wind, dust, traffic pollutants, as well as the strong possibility of bugs and small animals, and cannot be good for the "freshness" of the produce. 

 

Yes, the weather is cooler at the moment due to Winter, but this questionable practice is not very appealing for consumers. Our own experience of buying a bag of Navel oranges was disappointing after having to throw away many of them because they were rotten on the inside, and we weren't able to determine this until cutting each one in half for juicing.  At the time we just assumed it was bad luck that we got a bad bag, but after seeing the same table of oranges left outside overnight, we now have doubts.

 

We took the night photo on a Saturday night and the day time photo was taken on the following Monday. It seems that the tables of produce that normally are on display out front on the Carlisle Street footpath were merely just wheeled into the arcade so they could be locked up. 

 

It is such a shame that they did this because unfortunately my friends and I will now shop elsewhere for our produce for the time being.  It's also ironic that their little signs have headings saying, "Fresh is Best".  Sadly, that has now come into question. 

 

Fruit and Vegetables left outside in arcade overnight.

During a normal trading day, the arcade is open.