Fresh fruit and vegetables are healthy. Yet, the fresh produce is enormously expensive and wasteful. An estimated 40 percent of all fruits and vegetables grown in the U.S. ends up in the trash. What makes it to your local grocery store is often coated in layers of wax to keep it as fresh—or, rather, fresh looking—as possible. Apeel Sciences has developed a solution to this conundrum: By taking plant material that would ordinarily be wasted (grape skins from wine production, for example, or broccoli stems) and engineering a micro-thin, invisible, tasteless “barrier” that can be applied to produce, the company aims to dramatically extend the shelf life of everything from strawberries and bananas to green beans.
Fighting food waste with second skin for fragile fruit made from… food waste
More of Today's Solutions
Four surprising reasons to add more mushrooms to your diet
Here at The Optimist Daily, we are huge fans of mushrooms. As each year passes, more scientists are turning toward fantastic fungi to treat ...
Read More7 clever ways to give your old egg cartons new life
While it’s possible to recycle old egg cartons, there are many ways you can repurpose cartons in order to give them a second life ...
Read MoreSecrets of the sea: hidden underwater forests may help fight climate crisis
The Nature Conservancy's marine biologist Frank Hurd spends his days amongst gigantic kelp curtains, studying underwater forests. One of his usual diving haunts is ...
Read MoreHow secret languages and intimate communication bring couples closer
BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM Language is a tool for connection, and this is most visible in the subtle, idiosyncratic languages that couples ...
Read More
