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Food|So Much Produce Comes in Plastic. Is There a Better Way?
  
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/02/dining/plastic-food-packaging.html

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So Much Produce Comes in Plastic. Is There a Better Way?

As governments impose limits on plastic food packaging,
climate-friendlier alternatives are in the works. Here are some that
might be coming to a grocery store near you.

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A collection of packaged fruits and vegetables on foam trays covered
with plastic wrap.
Plastic wrap for food was first used in the 1930s. Today, it's all
over the produce department. Credit...RusN/Getty Images
Kim Severson

By Kim Severson

April 2, 2024Updated 2:39 p.m. ET

If it seems like plastic surrounds nearly every cucumber, apple and
pepper in the produce aisle, it does.

What began with cellophane in the 1930s picked up speed with the rise
of plastic clamshells in the 1980s and bagged salads in the 1990s.
Online grocery shopping turbocharged it.

But now the race is on for what people who grow and sell fruits and
vegetables are calling a moon shot: breaking plastic's stranglehold
on produce.

In a March survey among produce professionals on LinkedIn, the shift
to biodegradable material was voted the top trend. "It's big," said
Soren Bjorn, chief executive officer of Driscoll's, the world's
biggest grower of berries, which has switched to paper containers in
many European markets.

Image
Driscoll's introduced its transparent clamshells in the 1990s. Now,
it's designing paper containers (shown above).Credit...via Driscoll's

Spain has a plastic tax. France has severely limited plastic-wrapped
produce and the European Union is about to add its own restrictions.
Canada is trying to hammer out a plan that could eliminate plastic
packaging of produce by 95 percent by 2028. In the United States, 11
states have already restricted plastic packaging. As part of a
sweeping anti-waste plan, the Biden administration is calling for new
ways to package food that uses climate-friendly, antimicrobial
material designed to reduce reliance on plastic.

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