The
perishable vegetables should be bought as fresh as possible. No
difficulty will be experienced in determining this, for they will soon
wither or rot if they are not fresh, but the point is to find out their
condition before they are bought. The housewife should be ever on the
alert and should examine carefully the vegetables she buys before they
are accepted from the grocer or taken from the market. In the case of
certain vegetables, it is possible to conceal the fact that they are
stale. For instance, the outside leaves of a head of lettuce or endive
are sometimes removed and only the bleached center is offered for sale;
but this always indicates that the outside leaves were either withered
or spoiled or they would not have been taken off.
23. Much of the spoiling of vegetables can be avoided if proper
attention is given to them in the market. Food of this kind should be so
displayed that it is not exposed to the dirt and dust of the street, nor
to flies and other destructive vermin. The practice of displaying
vegetables on a stand in front of a store is gradually losing favor with
the housewife who understands the sanitary precautions that should be
taken with foods. On the other hand, housewives owe it to the merchant
not to handle the foods they are going to buy, for the handling of them
not only injures them so that they will not keep well, but renders them
unfit to be accepted by the next purchaser.
24. The manner in which vegetables are sold should also receive
consideration.
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