Buying Only Half a Cabbage is Possible (Or ANY Other “Per Pound” Produce Item!)

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Have you ever wanted to buy only half a head of cabbage or lettuce? Or only needed 1/4 zucchini for a recipe? Reader Kathy recently emailed me this article…and well, I had no idea!  I decided to venture off to my local grocery store and asked a produce worker and was amazed by his answer.

He stated that you can indeed buy any item that is sold by the pound and have it cut to the size (based on “per pound”) that you need – so onions, zucchini, cabbage, lettuce…you name it! Keep in mind that if an item is sold as a “unit” then you must buy the entire item. But if it is sold by the pound, you can have a produce worker cut it for you! I thought this was an awesome tip as it means that you’re only buying what you need, potentially saving money and reducing waste.

How cool is that!? 🙂

(Thanks, Kathy!)

Join The Discussion

Comments 193

  1. ANA

    can you do the same for meats

    • Alea

      From the meat counter yes – not the prepackaged packages though.

      • Jacinda

        i have actually taken whole prepacked ham and had the deli open it and slice it into sandwich slices for free. They just put it in a plastic baggie with the barcode.

    • Kim

      If I need a specific meat size I just go to the counter and they’ve always taken care of me.

    • Thalia

      Actually, I’ve taken a prepackaged meat to the meat counter to have them debone it or repackage it if needed. So, in some cases they will change a prepacked meat. Never hurts to ask.

    • tia

      At Publix, they will break down any pre-packaged meat. I do it all the time.

      • Kristi

        I do this too! It is often times cheaper for me to buy a family size pack of meat, but with there only being 3 people in my family we don’t need that much. The meat department has always been great about repackaging my meat into seperate packages for the same price and if there is a peice of meat left over they just take it off 🙂

    • Sandy

      My grocer will always cut and repackage a prepackaged meat. They will even repack my meat ulitizing packaging materials more appropriate for freezing.

  2. Cfernq

    FYI At the bakery you can split packages of rolls and loafs of bread in half too. Just ask for 1/2 loaf or 1/2 package of buns. I found this out by overhearing a lady in front of me order!

  3. Tonia

    They’ll cut a watermelon open for you too, if you want to make sure it’s a good one.

    • Amy L

      that is a great idea, last year i bought one and once i cut it open it was mush and hallow inside. ill have to keep that in mind for this summer!

    • Sandy

      Oh, aren’t you a smart cookie. What a great idea!

    • ANA

      What if you they cut it open and you dont want it?

  4. Alea

    Cabbage, lettuce, melons are sold per unit here – never seen them sold by pound.
    Just a heads up though, if you have a store that does sell per lb and cuts them in half, they will be throwing the other half away – so chances are you are saving money personally but it’s creating more waste overall.

    • Michelle

      Not necessarily… from what I have experienced, they just package up the other half and sell it that way.

      • Alea

        Nope it will brown and/or wilt fast with the oxygen exposure of cutting it – just like it does at home when we cut it.

        • Lisa

          My grocery store have packaged half items in the produce section all the time. I never knew why but I would be willing to bet that this is why and they are selling the other half.

          • Amy b

            I too have always wondered why I would see a random half cantaloupe wrapped in plastic sitting atop the whole ones LOL now I know

      • Lana

        I learned how to ask for a half, many years ago after watching frugal seniors in the grocery store. THEY do wrap plastic around the other half and put it right in front the whole produce for someone else like me to purchase and it is never oxidized . Very common practice in the Northwest to not overbuy and waste.

        • robinmeece@gmail.com

          they sometimes put half cantaloupes on display to show they are ripe & ready to eat!

    • Cindy Coleman

      That is exactly what I thought would happen 🙁 While you might save yourself a dollar (and not much more than a dollar), you will create waste because they will throw the rest of the vegetable out. Instead be creative and try to find the way to use the whole cabbage or lettuce or offer the extra to a friend or neighbor. I think it is a horrible idea to cause them to throw out perfectly good food just so you can buy half. And really, zucchini and onions are relatively small–who couldn’t use an entire one? All the markets around me sell cantalopes and watermelons both as a unit and cut into halves (or smaller for watermelon). But the per pound price is MUCH MORE EXPENSIVE than the unit price so you can pay more for a half watermelon than a whole–but in this case at least you wouldn’t be causing perfectly good food to be trashed.

      • Melissa

        You could always ask about their practices before making your decision. Maybe it varies by store.

        • Ashley

          That’s a smart idea 🙂

      • Anjela

        Buying 1/4 of a fruit? The store will most probably throw the other 3/4th. I personally will not buy 3/4 of a fruit or vegetable. Admit it. I don’t know the cleanness of the knife it was cut with,
        I don’t know when it got repackaged was it handled in a sanitary way. The store will definitely lose money. So lets say I want a half of banana. I will have to ask a clerk to cut it. It will take me time to find a clerk. He has to find a knife if he is afraid my knife is not clean. On the other had I will be afraid his knife is not clean. So I have to throw out the part he cut in the fruit in part because of the knife but mostly because when I wash the rest of the fruit it will get contaminated. Even cutting a watermelon. How are you going to wash it?
        To be honest I was thinking just the other day are we allowed to do that?
        I think in extreme situations when some fruit is really expensive you can do this.
        This is like some kind of sampling. But I doubt I will do it. Because the clerks in my area are quite impolite anyway.

        • Maria

          I don’t ever wash a watermelon before I eat it. I don’t even wash my melons. I just stick a knife to it and eat. Also, its a grocery store, they cut meat, deli, cheese, bread, and when you buy the stuff, its good to eat. Anyways, we need to stop being such germaphobes. Unless you plan on boiling that knife prior to using it, it already has germs and bacteria growing on it. EVERYTHING around us has germs and bacteria on it. It helps keep our immune systems strong.

          • Amy

            OMG I Couldn’t agree more… geez louise this stuff grows in the GROUND for God’s sake, in DIRT ahem… sure wash it is smart but c’mon let’s not go overboard. No need for the whole organic and chemical debate, but honestly, if you’re concerned about chemicals and all healthy GERM free food, then go ahead and buy your organic clean produce, which is usually pre-packaged anyways.. I was the snotty kid that was eating grapes right from the store, THANK YOU VERY MUCH.. lol

            • Jennifer

              I am with you on going overboard but you do need to be careful about what knife is cutting your fruit. i have worked in the food industry for almost 20 years and the majority of food born illness is crosscontamination(spell??). If the produce guy grabs a knife that was used to cut raw meats and cuts your watermellon in half that could cause some problems. not likley going to happen but it is a good idea to ask.

            • Anjela

              Not washing tomatoes? So lets just stop washing our hands to keep out immune system strong.
              Organic food is generally more expensive and I don’t have the resources to buy organic produce. I do try to save as well. I am just trying to say that when someone cuts a single item – he maybe is saving the price of half the tomato which the store pays but this is ONE of the good scenarios along the scenario that someone else buys it. The bad scenario is if the unwashed tomato is placed in my sandwich after it is being cut with a knife used for cutting you name it – meat or card boxes.
              What do you mean it is a grocery store? It is a restaurant but in the news I saw how the employee was stomping the lettuce with feet. All stores in my area sold items leading to salmonella and most of them in packaged lettuce. So packaging doesn’t guarantee safety.
              Washing does usually. And items which are not stored correctly double the chance to develop a disease. Out store was not removing the eggs from the boxes and people got salmonella. Right now they started removing them.
              I am not going to dissuade people to use half an item. If the store allows it it is the
              store’s responsibility. I am sharing WHY I would not do it. Because I know people who have lost all their savings and remained invalids from C coli, E coli, and salmonella. And the chemicals with which veggies and fruits are sprayed lead to cancer if not washed properly.
              It was in the ground – do not wash it. The meat was in the pig – lets don’t cook it.
              You don’t have to be a germaphobe to wash your produce.

    • Jessica

      Not true. I myself have seen half cabbages and watermelon sitting there that I went ahead and bought. So definitely not waste!

    • Lori

      Not necessarily true – The store I worked at would have cut up certain items for use in the salad bar. Others, such as cabbage, would have made it back onto the shelf for purchase. I guess it depends on the store’s Produce Manager.

      • Anjela

        Most of the stores in my area don’t have salad bars. I have seen a salad bar in just one of them. They do have sandwiches and may use them for them but right now I just seem to realize why people should be reluctant to eat sandwiches. If sandwiches are made with the produce that is halved this is definitely a minus in the quality of the sandwich for me.
        And exactly for the reason I have said. They CANNOT wash the tomatoes, peppers, kiwis, melons, etc if they have been cut. Basically the entire tomato in my sandwich has been contaminated. For reasons like these people get E coli, etc. And with diseases like Salmonella and many others I don’t want to be responsible for anyone’s else disease.
        Even if the store doesn’t lose money it is the customers who eat the sandwiches and the salads who pay the price of a few cents saved.

    • Carol

      I would not feel badly or find it necessary to purchase more than I need/want. If a store allows the practice of purchasing produce as less than a whole unit, and they don’t repackage the remaining product to sell, it is their decision. If this is considered wasteful the responsibility falls on the grocer, not me. I am merely purchasing what I need, therefore I feel I am being conscientious. They are well aware of the possible waste involved and they clearly accept it as such when they sell accordingly. Perhaps it is wasteful, in some respect, but if you purchase more than you really want are you going to somehow utiilze the amount you didn’t need in the first place? I have found spoiled/rotting produce when selecting what I want to purchase, which is also wasteful but, I don’t feel the need to purchase more in attempts to eleviate that waste. Was it spoiled when they purchased it to sell or did it go bad because they ordered too much. I would think supply and demand varies, so it is inevitable, but it isn’t a reason which justifies my purchasing product I don’t need or want.

      • Ashley57

        Well said, Carol.

    • Myrah

      I have a store near me called Guinta’s Meat Farms. They will sell you half of a fruit or vegetable without question. They take the open items and they make it into fruit salad or some sort of vegetable medley which they then sell in the deli department. The store will not let it go to waste. They actually make more money because a piece of fruit that they sell for $1.50 lb ends up being $3.00 lb when they make it into their fruit salad (the same goes for the vegetables).

  5. Nikki

    This is daily common practice at our beloved Publix. 🙂
    Customer service is their middle name!

    • tia

      So true! I’ve lived in PA, NJ & NY and have never seen customer service at a grocery store like at Publix!

    • JJ

      Went to Florida to spend time with family these past few weeks because I graduated college… and all I kept saying was how much I hated everyone there! My family in WPB has 5 Publix stores within 5 miles of their house and my family in Tampa has 3 Publix stores on the main road that they live off of! I’m SOOOOO hoping Publix will make it’s way to NC soon! They recently put one on the SC/NC line, so there’s hope! No, I’m not obsessed! 😉 Publix is just brilliant!

  6. Andrea

    I seriously doubt it would reduce waste- I certainly wouldn’t buy the second half a cut zucchini hours later. I bet it would just mean that the stores have to throw it away and if lots of people did it eventually raise prices. As far as meat, any place that has actual butchers will repackage or cut what you need, but it’s easier if you call ahead.

  7. Joanna

    Anyone know what they do with the other half of the produce? I’ve never seen a half piece of cabbage laying around.

    • Ashley

      I’ve seen the occasional half piece of cabbage and other produce at my stores. Maybe if they don’t think it’ll be sold the deli will use it? Or they can chop it up and use it at the salad bar (if they have one).

      • Sara

        That’s what I was thinking.

    • Michelle

      I have (at Fresh Market). I actually bought a 1/2 cabbage!

    • Karen

      I see half melons all the time around here!

      • K

        My grocery store sells prepackaged salads that they’ve made. I’m thinking they probably use the halves that way or possibly at their deli counter in sandwiches.

  8. Stephanie

    I love this tip.

  9. Donna

    That is very cool I waste a lot of produce and now I know I can buy only what I need. Thank You!!!!

  10. Denise

    But what happens to the rest of the lettuce, cabbage, zucchini, etc? I doubt anyone would go in and buy an already cut in half lettuce. Will the rest just be thrown away, contributing to food waste?

  11. Melissa

    Why not buy the whole vegetable and just throw the remainder of it in a soup pot? I know someone who has a continual soup pot going. Everyday they add either leftovers or more fresh ingredients. The soup is different everyday.

    • Alea

      That is an awesome idea!! Very hip and frugal 🙂

  12. Brandy

    I’m with a few others… I wouldn’t be the one to buy the leftover cabbage… and find it maybe wasteful?

  13. Jen

    I think many stores with just reuse the cut produce in their deli and other prepackaged food selections. Cabbage in the coleslaw or zucchini in a precut stir fry veggies for example.

  14. Amber

    I think I would feel guilty; I’m not sure why.

  15. Christine

    I actually bought a half a head of cabbage just the other day at Publix. I bet someone before me did requested it be cut and I was glad they did b/c I didn’t need the whole thing. 🙂

  16. Kim B.

    I know my Kroger will take the other half that you don’t buy and chop it up. They package it nice and sometimes add other things and sell it as a stir fry or side. They also cut up the fruit and make a fruit salad!

  17. Barb

    I agree with many of the above – I would never walk in and buy a half zuchini/lettuce/potato, etc. Even if it was repackaged nicely… I’d bet it ends up creating a lot of waste.

  18. fran

    This is a great tip and Collin did mention it in one of her videos after I told her about it.
    For any bags of produce sold at 3 lbs for ?, 4 lbs. for ? (apples, potatoes, onions, etc.), take a few bags to the scale, weigh them and buy the heaviest bag. You would be surprised at how much more you will get. You might be buying a 5 lb bag of potatoes, but when you weigh it, you might be getting an extra pound.
    I also have them cut a whole watermelon for me. I don’t want to have to buy it, lug it home, cut it (only to find out it’s not a good one) and then have to wrap it up and take it back to the store for a refund. If I don’t want the one they cut, they will sell it as pieces, so they aren’t losing out on anything.
    One time I saw a women breaking the bottoms off asparagus. I guess she didn’t want to pay for what she was going to throw away. I’ve heard from a family member that her store actually cut off the bottoms for her. This must be a new practice in a lot of supermarkets.

    • Jennifer

      This makes no sense to me. That’s like saying you want to cut up your apple before you buy it, because you are just going to throw away the core, so why pay for it? If people continue to do this, I bet the price per pound starts to go up. There are many parts of fruits and veggies that we don’t eat, yet are factored into the per pound price (banana peels, orange peels, pineapple tops) I would never think to be concerned about having to “pay for what I am going throw away” on these items, though.

    • Melissa

      I have never heard of such a thing aside from Grocers allowing you to shuck your corn from the husk.

      • Sheila

        and shucking your corn is actually a terrible idea as it will lose it’s sugar a lot quicker once shucked and not taste nearly as good.

    • Maria

      That actually is a good idea with the asperagus. They want $7.99 a lb for asperagus in my grocery store. So if you’re not going to use the bottoms, you’re saving yourself money. I am doing a eat real food diet, so food with one ingredient to it, and I am paying attention to other veggies I never would have eaten. Man they get expensive!!

      • Stephanie

        You can make soup from the asparagus tops.

        • Stephanie

          Oops, I meant bottoms!

  19. Jill

    Thats one thing i cant bring myself to do. I get embarrassed enough with a bunch of coupons!

    • Jennifer

      Don’t be embarrassed by coupons! You are shopping smart and saving money 🙂

    • Nikki

      Im never embarrassed using q’s but I would never stand in produce shucking my corn.
      It looks like something out of the Beverly Hillbillies. Really?

      • Meg

        I always shuck my corn in the store – and Publix always has big trash bins stationed in front of the corn for just this purpose. That way I’m sure the ears I purchase are to my liking, and I don’t have to toss the outer portion at home, just leave it in the store!

        • debbie

          Always saw people up by chicago doing this, but the rest of us polite people down state don’t do the corn shucking in the store

          • Ashley

            Well that’s just rude. I always shuck mine at home because I don’t have time to do it in the store, but I don’t see what the big deal is. Why get corn hair all over your kitchen when they set out big garbage bins so you can do the dirty work in store? Then again, I’m in WI, so I’m probably not considered polite like you.

          • Bethany

            Wait – why is shucking corn at the store not polite?? Mine has a big trash can next to the corn…I thought you were suppose to do that!?

          • debbie

            i am so sorry for my rude and stupid comment. sorry to all. : (

            • Ashley

              That was very mature of you to apologize, thank you! 🙂

      • susan

        Such an offensive statement. A lot of ppl shuck corn at the stores, why do you think they place the large garbage cans by the corn in the first place?? I can tell you from working at Walmart, that we have someone who picks up the produce wastes and uses it for composting in their large farm. This is wonderful, as the whole thing is being used……where as if you take the shucks home I venture most end up in the trash.

    • Laura Johnson

      I used to get embarrassed with my coupons too, but I’ve come to love hearing people behind me in line wondering how I walk out of the store with all that stuff for like, $1.25.

      • SoxGirl1029

        I used to get embarrassed using coupons but not anymore. Saving money is more important. I’m trying to teach my 13-year-old the same thing too. I took her to the store the other day to get free pet food for the animal shelter and made her take everything to the cashier with all the coupons. She was “soooooo embarrassed” but I hope she’s learning something about saving money.

  20. Jennifer

    I agree with others on this. I think this is an incredibly wasteful thing to do. Who is going to buy the other half? I know if I was in the grocery store, I wouldn’t buy half a zucchini, onion, or cabbage. Think about how fast it would start to brown. The store would probably just end up throwing it away. So yeah, you might have saved a few cents, but the store ends up losing out in the end, which over the long run could result in higher produce prices. This doesn’t seem like a very frugal idea to me. I’m surprised it’s on this site.

  21. Melissa

    I don’t think it would reduce waste either if the store ends up with a bunch of produce items cut in half. I would presonally not buy a zucchini or onion or head of lettuce that was already cut. Seems that it could increase prices if alot of people did this and the stores ended up having to waste alot of produce.

  22. Emily

    A lot of times for the salad bar or the deli packaged trays, they use stuff right from the produce section. They’d most likely give the extra half to that department to put in the salad bar or as garnish in a meat tray. In this case, you’re actually saving waste because they wouldn’t need to use a whole head of lettuce for that week’s deli tray orders and throw the rest out. Even if they need 3.5 heads of lettuce and you give them your half, that saves a 4th whole one that stays on the shelves. I hate when they’re out of the vegetables I want, so this might help keep more whole products on the shelves if they share your left overs with the deli and salad bar… and from working in 2 grocery stores in my life, I believe that most will share.

  23. vb

    now if only they’d let you cut off the stalks of the broccoli…i dont like those and dont like paying for those:)

    • Jean

      I’ve finally starting using the stalks. I cut them off, pop them in the freezer, and add them to a big pot of soup I’m making. Once tender in the pot, I take them out, chop up and put back into the soup pot. My son has no idea he’s eating broccoli!

      • Amy

        The stems of broccoli are really good. I peel them and chop them up and put them in with the broccoli tops.
        Jean, if you peel them, you could go ahead and chop them and put them in your soup, that might save you a step later taking them back out to chop. Just an idea

      • Stephanie

        This is an awesome idea! Thanks!

    • fran

      Don’t they sell broccoli crowns in your store?

    • Megan

      Use the stems! Just peel away the outer tough part and then chop the rest of the stalk up. It’s actually my favorite part of broccoli. I usually end up eating the stalks before they make it into the pot.

    • Cindy

      Haha, you and I can trade items then! I much prefer the stalks than the florets (though I don’t hate it either, I just have a preference over them). 🙂

  24. Ashley

    I must be weird because I’ve bought repackaged half cabbages before. If I know I’ll be using it within a couple days who cares? If I bring it home and use half, it would probably be a few days before I’d get around to using the other half anyhow.

    • Laura

      Me too Ashley. I had no idea other people thought that was gross. I’ve seen half cabbages often and buy it!

      • Ashley57

        LOL – I appreciate Collin sharing the tip and I would absolutely buy half of something if I saw it sitting there and all I needed was half. This would actually make me happy. I am going to start doing it with onions. I usually only need a very small piece, so buying half would save me money. Also, if I saw a half an onion already there, I would buy it! 🙂

        • roxy

          So you go to the store every time you need half an onion? I understand maybe you don’t use much onions, when you cook. I used to buy just one big onion every time I shopped, but noticed I use a lot of onions in pretty much all my dishes, so it’s not worth it to run to the store every time, not to mention, prices keep changing. I always cut my onions into slices and freeze them. This way, when I chop them, no more tears, plus they chop so much easier.

        • Kayla

          As a student on a budget and only cooking for myself or one other, half an onion or half a loaf of bread. I always feel guilty throwing out the remaining moldy bread or dried out onion that I’ve wasted money on. I would certainly by a half item, and heck, my cabbage and onions get cooked anyway, so I figure that will kill any germs 🙂 How is it any different than other uncleanliness? I’ve seen plenty of snotty kids pawing over and even eating parts of the produce in our grocery stores (grapes, bananas, etc). It’s all gross, just don’t think about it 😉

          • kmbrookshire

            Lol incomplete thoughts. Half an onion or half a loaf of bread would be optimal for my cooking purposes, so I would buy. Buy, not by 🙂

          • Megan

            I don’t ever throw anything away. You can freeze the leftover onions and bread. I do this all the time.

    • Pam

      I just asked the produce manager to cut a cabbage in half yesterday for stir-fry. She said they generally have halves out there, but the night crew must not have had time to do it. I would buy the already cut half if it was there…I don’t see any problem with it. I don’t want to pay $4 for something I’m only going to use 1/2 or a 1/4 of. Now that’s wasteful! They sometimes have half cantelopes, too. I’ll buy them…you can actually see what you’re buying as well. Guess I’m weird! 🙂

  25. Angelia

    I think if this is something you are interested in doing. You should ask your store what they do with the other half/part. Than decide if it works for you. Most of my stores sell their own brand and have some sort of deli. The produce they use for that comes from the same stuff we buy. They wrap lettuce/cabbage/fruit if it’s 1/2 or more and put it back out. If it’s less than that they they cut it up and sell it in the deli. You can buy fruit in plastic containers, salads, veggies already pre-cut. Even a zucchini can be sliced up to put on sandwiches or in chunks for a salad. I don’t think most store would throw it away, but asking is the best way to find out.

  26. Stacey

    One time I asked them to slice up a pineapple for me. They did, and then charged me the price that the kind in the container costs. I ended up costing me about $7…… I will buy the whole cabbage and cut it myself 😛

  27. Lindsey

    I agree with many others – I think this is really wasteful and slightly nervy.

    • Meg

      I wouldn’t do it in produce, but several times at Publix I have asked for half a package of their bakery hamburger rolls, knowing I wouldn’t be able to use the rest timely. So they repackage my 4 for half price and repackage the other 4 for the same. I got the idea when I saw a half pack for sale!

  28. Kathy

    As I single person I was intrigued by this idea because sometimes things can lose freshness more quickly than I consume them. I read comments here and it made wonder about any comments on the original articles website about the potential waste if the store chose to throw remaining parts out. Her’es a part of one of the reader’s comments “Re the question of waste at the store level – one option that the team memeber can offer the pieces as samples. Another is that the store can participate with a local food bank as many fresh produce items (cut or not) is not sold. Going to a food bank or soup kitchen is a lovely option for unsold food.
    I guess what I am saying is that you buy what you want to buy they way you want/need it — then engage the store leadership to encourage ecofriendly uses or practices for unsold produce.” The last sentence I found thought provoking.

  29. Jeanette

    Instead of assuming they will throw the rest out, why not ask? I know I’ve seen cut up fruits & veggies of all types in my local grocery stores. Cut of veggies for stir frys or stews, cut up fruits for fruit trays, 1/2 and even 1/4 melons of all types. In a market where the profit margin is so slim, I’m sure they’d find a way to use it. It may even end up being donated to a shelter or soup kitchen at the end of the day if the rest of it doesn’t get sold.

  30. Amy

    I usually buy the whole thing, use what I nees and freeze the rest. My family likes fried cabbage (using olive oil) as well as fried zucchini & yellow squash. When the are in season, I stock up at farmer’s markets, clean & chop them, then put them in freezer bags & pop in the freezer. I even have shredded zucchini for bread.

    • Stacey

      Fried cabbage??? I have never heard of such a thing. It sounds delicious!! Can you email me the instructions or recipe? spacefly67 at aol dot com

      • Andrea

        You just chop it up, fry it in butter with a little salt & pepper.

      • Karen

        I fry it all the time. I throw in some bacon pieces and some fresh mushrooms in a little olive oil and soy sauce. It stops me from craving potato chips 🙂

  31. Katya

    I would never buy cut cabbage or zucchini. At home I wash them before cutting. I doubt they will wash them in the store before cutting. I just try to choose a better size of the cabbage, very often they have small ones.

  32. Megan

    I can’t imagine a time when having too many veggies would be a problem for me. I can always find a way to use up the leftover veggies.

    • Andrea

      Thank you! I guess I can’t wrap my head around this because I simply find a use for anything I have left. Strange.

    • Meg

      I’m with you – we make a homemade soup or stew every week and every leftover , wilted etc veggie in the fridge will most likely make an appearance in that meal! As an example, I currently have a beef stew in the crockpot. I found a half a tomato and about ten green beans in the veggie drawer …now they’re part of the stew!

      • debbie

        Exactly!! Thank YOU!! Lots of spoiled people out there!!

      • steph

        Like this idea much better! I need to start making more soups and stews!!

    • Stephanie

      Yes! There is always something for leftover veggies! I keep a ziplock or a jar in my freezer. When there are leftovers I add them to the bag. It either gets used for making chicken stock or soup depending on what I make first. I also try and chop veggies small and add them to everything. Most times, you can’t tell they’re there and they add nutrition. Oh, and grated zucchinni will dissapear when you whisk it into scrambled eggs before you cook them. My boys never know. I call them my special eggs and they ask for them!!

  33. Juanita

    This is horrible! What do you think is going to happen to that other half of cabbage, squash, apple (OMG!), etc.?! It’s waste, increasing your and everyone else’s grocery prices!

  34. Heather

    Settle down people, the whole point of buying a portion is because you know ahead of time that the rest would go to waste at your hose because you only need the section. So why pay for the section that will be thrown out if you don’t have to? The store likely packages up the rest for someone else to buy… and I don’t see the problem with buying cut up produce if you know you’re going to use it quickly. The stores wouldn’t nicely do this for customers if it was costing them lots of money, so I don’t think anyone needs to worry about this driving up food prices.

    Thanks, Collin for posting this tip! Now I know I can get my watermelons cut open, so I don’t have to take the risk that they might be bad inside and I end up paying for garbage.

    • debbie

      you’re losing some of the nutritional value buying cut up melons, it’s lost by being exposed to the light and air

      • Ann

        Oh please. You people have too much time on your hands. Really? How much exactly nutritional value would you be losing from cutting it? It’s a fruit, for crying out loud. It’s still going to be nutritious!

        • Sheila

          Actually Ann, Debbie is correct. Once a veggie/fruit has been cut it does start to lose its nutritional value. It’s just a part of the gradual going bad process. You aren’t doing yourself any nutritional favors by buying all those pre-cut, pre-prepared items. If you don’t think it’s true, research it.

  35. Kathy

    Here’s a tip I read on the article’s comments that I thought was good: Here’s another farmer’s market tip. Beets! Often customers will ask the farmer to remove the greens from the beets because they just want the beets. The farmer will give those greens to you if you ask.

  36. CJ

    Many markets will take your 1/2 zucchini (or whatever) and use it make pre-cut stir fry mix or kebabs. If you’re truly concerned that they’re just going to throw away the rest if you ask them to cut it, ask them what is done with it.

  37. Toni Nelson

    we got yelled at in Stop and Shop once we were taking a few leaves from the bunch of mustard greens(they were listed for sale by the pound, not the bunch) and the employee said that you can not do that….we only need them to feed our lizard and he only eats a very small amount per week, buying the bunch we end up throwing away 4/5 of it

  38. Cindy

    You can easily break packages… You don’t even need to purchase the entire bag of grapes or cherries, you can get a separate bag and contain as much that you’d like. You can do the same for meat too. I can’t see why you’d only take half a cabbage or half a kiwi though. There’s so many other clever ways you can incorporate the rest into another meal. The only thing I can see why you’d take half would be extremely big items like watermelon.

  39. Amy

    OMG people are freaking out for no reason.. some of these comments are just ridiculous. Worried about the sanitation of the knife?? FOR god’s sake… look around you people it is a SUPERMARKET.. just wash it before you use it, and if you boil it to cook it any germs will be killed anyways. People immediately begin to add negative comments to things for which they have no evidence.. RE- how are you so sure they will ‘just throw the other half away, contributing to waste…’ that is just an ignorant statement. IMO

    • susan

      Actually Amy you should do some research before posting. Salmonella is commonly transferred from the out shell of a melon and once a knife passes through it will contaminate the melon itself. Totally understandable why ppl are concerned, those are something you eat raw and do not cook so there is no way to “boil away the germs.”

      • Amy

        was referring to cabbage, obviously not going to boil a melon. which you can normally buy halves or even slices and pieces of already. I’m not a numbskull thanks.

  40. amy

    i think if i asked them to cut half, my husband would buy the other half and hit me upside the head with it. haha 😉

    • Jo

      lol…

    • Pascale

      lol thats so funny cause that what will probably happen to me too…

    • Stephanie

      Too funny! Me too.

  41. Ashley

    I’m sorry(well, maybe not really), but this is STUPID and irresponsible on so many levels.

    • Kim

      Stupid and irresponsible? How about buying something you KNOW you will throw away? Now that is stupid and irresponsible. As many others have already said, just ASK first because a lot of stores will use that other half by repackaging for sale, using in the deli department, or donating to shelters.

      I love to make fresh fruit salads, but haven’t done it in ages because by the time I use a whole cantaloupe, honeydew, and watermelon, plus enough other small fruits to balance it out I’ve got 20 lb of salad and spent $30. At least half will get thrown out since it’s just my husband and me.

      I say THANK YOU TO COLIN for this tip!! I will find a store that repurposes the other half and I can make fruit salad much more often now!

  42. Tiffany

    I think its rude but that’s just my opinion.

  43. Sandy

    My sister and I sometimes buy produce and split it. We’ve split watermelons, cabbages, large bags of potatoes, family size pacakages of meat, even a box of ice cream treats (in an attempt to curb a craving but not have large amounts on hand to gorge on). We also save money by purchasing produce which keeps, such as oranges and apples, enough to last a couple of weeks when they are on sale at a great price. We have an Aldi’s not far from our home and their sales on fruits seem to alternate weeks with their sales on vegetables. We simply purchase enough for 2 weeks. Love my Debbie Meyer Green Bags!

  44. Jennifer

    It is called CUSTOMER SERVICE!!! . Working at Albertsons I found out that they would happily cut by the pound produce for the customer. It’s part of their job to sell the produce to the customer, not just stock the produce.
    Knowing that, I have asked at other supermarket’s produce departments to assist me with either sampling fruit or cutting a cabbage in half. They have always been happy to help.

  45. Starla

    I have had our Kroger produce guy cut into watermelons to look for the ripest one I wanted. He says it is no problem!

    • steph

      You had him cut up a bunch of watermelons to find the best one!!????

    • Stephanie

      That’s ridiculous! I’m sorry, I’m generally not this straight forward, but I can’t even begin to say how insane this is.

    • Josh

      The best way to pick a watermelon is to thump them with your finger. If its a deep sound, it’s ripe. If it sounds high pitched, it’s not ready.

  46. deal$$ave

    Yes i agree with this article. We always buy grapes in the same way even though those packed in ziplock packaging or grape boxes, we only take what ever needed from the pack and buy.

  47. Li

    Great tip. Thanks for sharing Collen!

  48. terri

    I receive emails from Earth911 and read that article and thought it added to waste not reduced it. Personally, I would not buy half a cabbage, and I don’t know anyone that would. I’m sure there are a few people, but most wouldn’t…so as far as Earth911 is considered, it would be a bigger waste.

  49. Gabby

    For anyone worried I would def buy half a cabbage… and Ive def bought half a watermelon! And honestly, if youre still worried, there are people that dumpster dive… and also if you are still worried, if they are a chain of grocery stores TRUST ME they are making enough money! When it comes down to it, I dont think they would be wasting the vegetables, also if you are still worried why not ask? Ask for a manager ask what they do with it after… and then make your decision from their. I do think the one lady had a good idea in that the knife might be dirty, but why not bring a organic, perfectly ok for you whipe and ask if they can just whip the blade down… i mean one stroke over would do no harm… so what if they give you an attitude and look at you funny, youll be saving money, and isnt that what this site is about?

  50. Ashley

    Wow, I bet Collin never thought this would be such a controversial issue!

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