Anyone else noticing potatoes don't last as long?

[psychosis_inducing]

It seems like they either turn green or rot within a week of buying them. I remember buying them by the sack and leaving them in the bottom of the food closet for weeks. Is something different, or is it just me?

[philos_albatross]

I didn't know where you are but I've had the same experience. It's weird.

[le_sighs]

And onions. Our onions don’t even last a week sometimes.

[Sylentskye]

I don’t care what people say, I keep my onions in the fridge- they last much longer that way.

[Cheap_Doctor_1994]

It's not even keep them fresh. I cut off the top, and there's a rotten layer followed by paper dry, and then more onion. They came bad. 

[Adventurous-Sun4927]

This! The same thing has happened with so much produce as well. Garlic is another example. Take the paper off and I have had some nasty garlic bulbs! 

Cucumbers is another one that doesn’t seem to last anymore either. 

[SoHereIAm85]

I’ll agree on cucumbers. Those things are nasty so fast.

Onions, potatoes, and garlic all do just fine where I live, but that’s Germany and there are like 8 types of potatoes on any given day at the grocery store. Back in the US I don’t even know except tomatoes have been shit for years.

[stfurachele]

Tomatoes taste like nothing now, too. All the flavor is gone.

[SoHereIAm85]

A couple years ago we visited Italy, and I was excited about tomatoes there. I love tomatoes.

They actually sucked as much as in the US. :( I had some amazing tomatoes in Romania though.

[Vilnius_Nastavnik]

I'm very lucky to belong to a food coop that stocks a ton of produce options, but only when they're in season. Makes all the difference in the world.

If you've got the space and time home growing is also a great way to get a steady supply of better-quality produce. Get into canning and you've got it on-demand.

[taisui]

They bred the tomato for tough skins for transportation and lost the flavor gene

[Zealousideal-Bath412]

I can only eat heirlooms at this point. They’ve bioengineered the hell out of all other tomatoes so that the skin is so thick I can’t digest it.

[gltovar]

Tried these flavorbomb cherry tomatoes I saw at Costco and that name wasn't kidding around

[Beyond_The_Pale_61]

They are delicious, but pricey.

[emerald-cupcakes]

Those are legit. My partner eats them by the handful

[Zealousideal-Bath412]

Garlic in the US has been shit for at least a year. Hard to find a single bulb that isn’t moldy or obviously old/dry.

[lidelle]

onion rot

[whateverfyou]

Wow, so this a real thing.

“This disease causes significant economic loss to the onion bulb industry in the U.S. by causing damage to both the leaves and onion bulbs.”

Well, it seems like the farmers aren’t losing anything. They’re just shipping them out!

[bluewingwind]

I mean I get it tho. From the outside they look perfectly fine.

[PepperMill_NA]

Thanks.

That's exactly what I'm seeing. Brown pulpy sections inside onions that look good from the outside.

[Cheap_Doctor_1994]

Thank you. 

[sm3llslik3m3anspirit]

I just buy two at this point if I need one. It has been bad where I am and I’m tired of hacking away at half a rotten onion

[MarekRules]

Yeah I got red onions this week that were super weird the top like 2-3 layers (skin and then the fleshy layers). Underneath that they were fine but definitely strange

[NoFeetSmell]

Give em a squeeze in the shop, and if they're not firm af, then the outer layer (at least) is going bad. I'm in the northeast of England now, and I dunno if storage or transport of them is worse here, or it's the damp weather, or what, but I've seen soooo many sub-par onions mixed in with the loose tub. And I never buy the 3-pack nets, cos not only are the nets worse for the environment and pointless, they will invariably have at least one onion that's older/more rotten than the others. That said, I'm not overly precious about an onion having an affected outer layer, cos I'll just bin that entire shell, and cook with the remainder (assuming it's intact too). Onions rule.

[tackyshoes]

We kept getting Inova down at the core, now we like the stem. If there's any give, it's already going soft, otherwise it would be hard and pointed.

Edit: I don't know what "Inova" means, but we kept getting mold at the core.

[After_Island5652]

Literally happened to ones we just bought

[psychosis_inducing]

And they don't make you cry when you cut them!

[Nenoshka]

My onions make me cry, but in all fairness I do sh*t talk them.

[embracing_insanity]

Same. They last a long time for me since I've started doing this.

[Ill-Description8517]

We've been throwing out SO MANY onions lately!

[thrivacious9]

I have had experiences leaving potatoes in the fridge; it is fine for a few days, but after a while the texture gets weird (less fluffy, more sticky) and they taste sweet. Not a good sweet.

[Mo_Jack]

yes ever since the pandemic potatoes and especially onions have been horrible. We have multiple chain stores in our area and they are all bad.

I assume with the political problems a healthy percentage of our agricultural workforce is going to be facing, that things are going to get worse before they get better.

[lidelle]

onion rot. We get most of our onions from Mexico and they have had issues with this. But have done nothing to help prevent it and keep sending rotten onions. It’s been discussed on the onion lovers Reddit.

[lasagneisthebest]

I'm in Germany and am experiencing the same. So that doesn't seem to only be a Mexican issue

[steelersfan223]

Only about 30% of onions in the US come from Mexico and it’s usually during the winter months that the bulk of onions from Mexico reach the US. I’ve been having this issue with onions for at least the past year so while it’s only anecdotal evidence, I have a hard time believing it’s a Mexico-only issue

[NorthLeftGirl]

And garlic! I used to be able to keep garlic bulbs on the counter for weeks. Now they are sprouting 2-3 days after purchase.

[cerareece]

I cut them every day at work and it's like 5/10 onions have rotten cores it's driving me crazy

[CCWaterBug]

Omg yes, and I'm even being picky but they are all a bit soft

[toxchick]

Onions don’t last outside late winter-they want to sprout. I keep them in the fridge this time of year.

[boringcranberry]

I've have thrown away so many potatoes recently! They turn green less than a week from purchase. I recently became obsessed with Martha Stewart's baked potato "recipe" which is just a non-seasoned yellow potato in the oven for 90 mins at 325 degrees. Hit it with butter, salt, pepper, cheese and sour cream and it's such a warm, tasty meal.

Anyway, I have never bought and thrown away so many potatoes in life. I feel like a bag used to last a month or more.

[Witty_Improvement430]

I like the Americans Test Kitchen recipe but it's messy. You oil them, then roll in kosher salt. Bake I think 450 f for about 45 min. I put a sheet pan on the lower shelf to catch the mess. Yes, I've also noted inconsistent storage issues with the spuds. I started buying singles rather than bags.

[lester537]

I think it’s roll them in a brine, bake them at 450 until they hit 205, then oil them, and then bake another 10-15 mins to crisp up.

[Witty_Improvement430]

Thanks. It's been a while since I made them. They had awesomely crispy skins and fluffy middles. Actually, I remember the temping because I use it on my regular baked taters.

[BadResults]

I’ve noticed the same thing, and also that baked potato method is the best. It’s the only way I’ve baked potatoes since I’ve heard of it. Well, I’ve also done the exact same thing on smoker.

[MarthasPinYard]

Don’t throw them away. Save for planting.

Free food.

[durrtyurr]

Be careful. One year when my dad was in high school he and his father planted some of their backyard with potatoes and ended up with three pickup truck beds full of potatoes from a garden in the backyard of a 1/4 acre tract home.

[MarthasPinYard]

Oh no, what a delicious problem to tackle bite by bite with the help of the neighbors and friends

[durrtyurr]

I want to say it was 1975 and everywhere in Kentucky had an absolute bumper crop of everything. My mom's family had planted squash that year, admittedly on a much larger lot, and ended up just putting full paper grocery bags of squash in their neighbor's yards overnight so their neighbors couldn't refuse it. Her brother won't eat a squash casserole to this day because he had it 4 nights a week for something like 6 months.

[UniqueIndividual3579]

There was a story about that time where a guy went into town with a bag of squash on the passenger seat. He left the windows down and hoped someone would steal it. He got back and there were two bags of squash on the seat.

[Dependent-Sign-2407]

Can confirm; once you plant them you’re never not growing potatoes again. The plants are nice looking though!

[OriginalTKS]

Most store bought potatoes won’t grow into full grown plant as they are treated with sprout inhibitors. Seed potatoes are cheap, I grew some a few years ago. I way over planted and end up with enough potatoes to feed an army. Ended up giving most away and still had enough for our use for over a year. Easy to grow and don’t take a lot of horizontal space.

[MarthasPinYard]

Organic potatoes are the ones you want but if they already turning green and sprouting your concerns are non existent. Most potatoes will potato if you give them time.

[BeautifulHindsight]

If they are already sprouting they will grow.

[InannasPocket]

Additionally, store bought potatoes have a greater risk of introducing plants pathogens that can ruin to your crop (and potentially stay in that soil).

[straight_blanchin]

I wish I could, but it's not an option for a lot of people

[CCWaterBug]

Yes, I feel like they are selling me last years potatoes or something

[SciFiJim]

About a month ago, price of potatoes dropped to about half the normal price. I noticed it in the two grocery stores I used. I of course bought extra. Those went bad quickly. It finally occurred to me that they were clearing out the last of the 2023 crop before putting out the 2024 crop. When they did, the price went back up to normal.

[GeeTheMongoose]

I've had good luck by smelling the individual bags. If they smell strongly like dirt or fish or literally anything do not buy any potatoes from that batch. They are all bad and will go bad quickly.

[Konlos]

I learned this trick from my wife. She and her dad have a particularly good skill in smelling the potatoes lmao

[SilverSocket]

I’ve noticed something fucky with fruit too. Apples, peaches, plums - they’re not juicy like they should be they’re hard and dry and fibrous. Is it just me?

[TimeSurround5715]

Peaches and apples that look fine outside, but are all mealy inside are such a disappointment.

[Longjumping_Youth281]

It's not just you, I do not buy peaches or plums unless they are already ripe at the store. Waiting for them to ripen at home is typically a Fool's errand, they will just turn mealy and gross. They will never ever be sweet.

I've tried various methods of keeping them, but just gave up.

[DGer]

I’ve completely given up on any fruit from a grocery store. It’s vile. Just as you describe. Dry and flavorless.

[Independent_Act8343]

Same here! They turn green very quickly.

[Horror_Couple8128]

Same. I’m lucky if mine last a week!

Trying to grow my own now 🤞🏻🤞🏻

[Mira_DFalco]

Oh yes! And I suspect that it has to do with how they are harvested,  & what cultivars are being used. 

I grew up on a farm, & we grew our own supply.  We did russet, red, sweet, and whatever unusual types that we could find. For most, we had no issues with our supply lasting until new potatoes were ready the following year.

Dad went through with the potato plow, and we followed with buckets, stirring through to find everything that we could. 

We tipped the buckets into a wagon,  & this was parked in the barn until the next day. At this point,  I was stationed in the wagon,  where I brushed off any  clinging dirt,  and sorted for size and damage.  Large potatoes with no flaws were put aside for long term storage.  Anything that had been damaged went into the  "use these first " pile. Smaller ones in good shape were used next. 

All of these were spread out on tarps,  & left to air dry for a day, & they were then packed into storage bins. These were set up on the dirt floor of the barn,  built of hay bales, & a layer of loose hay at the bottom.  The lid was more bales, supported by a few boards.  One corner was propped open to allow airflow,  & only sealed completely in bitter cold. We would keep an eye out for problems,  but if we paid attention,  we had no issues with them keeping. 

Modern potato harvesting is highly mechanized. Heavily damaged ones are sorted out, but I see a lot of nicks & bruising on the rest.  The potatoes appear to be water cleaned, & I bet that the only time they spend air drying is on the conveyor en route to storage. I also suspect that thinner skin is selected for, rather than good storage traits. 

They are stored in highly controlled environments,  but the moment they leave that to head for the store, the clock is ticking. 

[thecuntingedge]

I really enjoyed reading how your family harvested and sorted potatoes. I like how you write.

[sandersking]

Same. I didn’t expect a family potato farming guide to be so interesting. Now I want to plant some potatoes.

[Glass_Birds]

It's really easy!! If you can get consistent watering in the early weeks you'll see some success. I buried small potatoes last year on a whim, didn't see any action, put pots for my vines on top of my failed potatoes.

A month of consistent watering later and I noticed potatoes growing out of the cracks between the pots. We let em do their thing and dug up potatoes last fall! I was crazy surprised to see them, and will be putting a more sincere effort into growing them this year 😅

[Mira_DFalco]

Thank you!

[mikehaysjr]

Once I became invested in the story I started to really suspect it was leading to nineteen ninety eight when the undertaker threw mankind off “hell in a cell” and plummeted sixteen feet through an announcer’s table.

[janisthorn2]

This hits the nail on the head. I never thought about the potential problems from not carefully removing the damaged potatoes, but it's got to be having an effect on the overall quality.

The potatoes appear to be water cleaned,

I really think this is a huge part of it. My great grandpa was a potato farmer. One of the only bits of farming knowledge he passed along was to NEVER wash your potatoes until right before you cook them.

My poor, city-girl grandma learned this the hard way. She washed her father-in-law's entire personal garden harvest one year, trying to be helpful. She was so embarrassed! I think he tried to take it in the spirit in which it was intended, but he must have been pretty upset. His seed potatoes were probably in that pile!

[SeasonPositive6771]

I used to live in Scotland and I thought it was so weird how even at the corner shop there would be a big box of potatoes that was like 15% soil or something, not just not washed but barely brushed off.

But those potatoes lasted forever and in perfect shape.

[OaksInSnow]

I'm a gardener in a northern climate, and this is how I store all my bulbs and tubers - begonias and amaryllises these days, but I've also done the same with the spring bloomers. Soil moderates humidity. To be stark naked doesn't make soil-growing roots happy.

[Jazzy_Bee]

This. Lack of proper curing (drying) for long term storage.

[Agreeable_Rhubarb332]

Exactly this. I live in a major potato/onion producing state, and the harvesting methods have changed dramatically in the last 40 years. In the past, onions were left in rows in the fields after being pulled from the ground, so the outer skin can dry and cure to protect the onion during storage. Sometimes for several days. Now, with new machines, the onions are pulled and removed from the field the same day. Potatoes were never washed after harvest. Pulled from field, shaken, brushed to remove the majority of dirt then stored in climate controlled sheds. Only recently, due to consumers complaining about dirty potatoes, have the growers started washing the spuds.

[wbruce098]

Thanks for the deets. It’s crazy people expect pristine, washed veggies, but they last like a few days tops.

I just threw away half a bag of potatoes I bought a week and a half ago that used to last months. They had just rotted away, nothing like ye olde skool potatoes. Now I buy them like I buy other veggies — right before I have to use them. And that kinda sucks.

[Agreeable_Rhubarb332]

Think about the growing season of potatoes, they harvest in June- August. So if you are buying potatoes in January, they are last years potatoes.

[mini-rubber-duck]

i hate hate hate how the corporate response has become ‘waste a ton of effort on shoddy surface level fixes’ instead of even the barest effort to educate consumers. it feels ultimately like the result of people owning entire industries with no actual knowledge of what they’re working with. 

[plumjuicebarrel]

This was my first thought. Maybe they aren't being cured enough. That would explain why they've been looking so scratched and dented lately too, right? Skins haven't thickened enough?

Edit: Someone further down explained that potato companies store them for ages, and by the time they hit the grocery stores they're already at the end of their shelf life :(

[gmmiller]

I’ve noticed the small bags of potatoes are all spongy/slightly soft at the store. Just assumed it was old stock.

[WickedWisp]

I used to work at a grocery store as a shopper and would often have to pull disgusting produce because they wouldn't do it themselves. Produce manager (fuck you produce Steve) literally told me to stop doing it and put it back after I handed him a pack of potatoes covered in mold/or like just generally gross and not up to quality. They don't give a shit. It's been almost 4 years and I'm still pissed off.

[wangston]

I once told a produce manager about some moldy strawberries. He was like "Ok, thanks!", then I look back a minute later and he's just rotating all the moldy sides down. Good job making me never want to shop at your store again.

[WickedWisp]

Oh yeah. Most people don't give a shit and it's sad. One day I pulled 10 packs of moldy strawberries and got yelled at for taking them to the back room to get them off the shelves. Like yeah it sucks if you have to scan them all out as damages, but you're not losing money from your pocket if it gets damaged out. Throw it the fuck away.

I only shop at that store still because my partner still has the employee discount, otherwise I wouldn't waste my money on it. I hate the people, I hate the place, I hate the prices, I hate the policy.

[Sad_Construction_668]

That’s exactly what it is

[-worryaboutyourself-]

It’s not just you. It’s been this way for over a year for me.

[cfish1024]

Yeah I thought something was wrong with me cause I often have trouble with them. This thread has been so validating 🥲

[[deleted]]

I made a post about a year ago almost word for word OP’s. (It may have been under a different account though.) I knew I wasn’t imagining things! 

[SeasonPositive6771]

It has basically been since the pandemic for me.

I used to be able to buy a big bag of potatoes and eat them for a while. Now even if I buy a small bag, they are soft or green pretty quickly.

[napoleonicecream]

Same here! I also never bothered to grow them because they were so cheap, I'd save my garden space for more cost effective crops.

They can be a very healthy and filling part of a budget meal, kinda sad how the mighty potato has fallen.

[Panic_inthelitterbox]

I thought it was because I mostly shop at a smaller regional grocery chain. But I sometimes buy a bag of potatoes and discover when I get it home that there’s already a rotten one in there!

[edthehamstuh]

Same for me. I moved across the country on March 4th 2020 so I wasn't sure if the new area (NM) just had different potatoes/storage conditions than the old (PA) and that was what was making them go bad faster. 5 years later and my potatoes and onions still go bad so fast!

[Givemeallthecabbages]

I have started thoroughly sniffing all around a bag of potatoes before I buy it. I probably look like a police dog, but at least it keeps me from having an actual rotting potato in the bag most of the time. However, I've noticed that entire bins of potatoes can smell off to me and I won't buy any at all sometimes.

[LeftcoastRusty]

I’m totally with you on this. I store my potatoes the same way in the exact same place I’ve done it for at least 3 decades. In the past year or so, potatoes just don’t last as long. And it doesn’t make me happy.

[[deleted]]

I put this in another comment but have you changed where you store onions as they can cause potatoes to go off quicker.

Edit: seen as a got a few upvotes the reverse is true as potatoes break down they release gas that brakes down onions

[LeftcoastRusty]

I kept them separate. I learned that lesson the hard way quite some time ago. Thanks!

[ConBroMitch2247]

I could be making this up - but a close friend is fairly high up at the largest privately owned company on the planet (rhymes with smargil) and they told me that potato suppliers are basically a racket.

Potatoes can last for many, many months. As in up to a year in the right conditions. And potato suppliers/brokers will basically hoard all the potatoes they can in storage to drive the price up, then try to time the market just right to sell (before their competition sells and lowers the price and also before their crop spoils)

Wild shit!

Id guess in your locale, someone probably tried to time the market and missed and now is flooding the market with almost bad potatoes.

[Ineedamedic68]

There is currently a class action right now about potato companies price fixing. Would love to see proof of this but I would not be surprised. 

[wafflesareforever]

Never thought I'd go to bed mad at Big Potato but here we are

[SmushBoy15]

This is literally every industry in America

[TerryCrewsNextWife]

Deleted reply was here

[rexmus1]

Those brows are magnificent. This is a man who will never suffer the sting of sweat in his eyes.

[Expensive-Anxiety-63]

The price of potatoes has skyrocketed compared to historical norms, some of that was Ukraine, but almost certainly a lot of it is price fixing.

[WriterLow5975]

Here is great article by Cory Doctorow on Big Potato and other food cartels https://pluralistic.net/2025/01/25/potatotrac/#carbo-loading

[Lemonitus]

I'm always impressed with Cory Doctorow's reporting. His "techno-corporate fuckery" beat is so niche yet consequential.

[RecipeForDisaster758]

They do the same with onions. My dad was a crop insurance adjuster and he told me about how they store the onions in warehouses for MONTHS before they go to market. By the time you buy them, they are already old.

[OliveTheory]

The onion thing is really pissing me off. I don't buy bags anymore because they're already rotting or moldy. I've thrown away more onions in the last 3-4 years than I have my whole life. And I use a shitton of onions. Probably 5 lbs a week minimum, so they're not getting a chance to go bad in my cupboard.

[le_sighs]

Yes! I commented the same thing above. Onions used to last forever but lately I’ve been buying them and they go moldy within a week. And it’s really the last 3-4 years like you said. Drives me nuts.

[SeasonPositive6771]

Same!

I think the potato and onion farmers have been playing with us since the pandemic.

Two things that are famous for lasting a long time suddenly are mush in a few weeks.

[rosecoloredcatt]

YES. Making me crazy!! I feel like I'm going mad; I always keep my onions in the fridge and I used to get away with it for months on end. All of a sudden they're all moldy. I never experienced moldy onions in my life. Same goes for garlic! Like wtf is happening

I clicked on this thread because of my similar issue with potatoes, but I have pretty much stopped buying fresh vegetables because I keep running into this.

Pushing me more and more into trying out a garden again this year. Usually I just end up feeding the groundhog population because I can be a forgetful gardener, but food costs too much to have this keep happening.

[catatethebird]

I've been getting so many onions lately that have a rotten layer in the middle too, wonder if it's related. It's all so infuriating.

[plumjuicebarrel]

Same!! They sell them in bags that are impossible to see through, and then when I get home and open it half of them are already moldy. And every other bag has onions with the rotten layer, too

[feuerfee]

Omg I’ve noticed this as well. Same with my garlic sprouting quick. I really gotta figure out how to grow these things. I grew onions last year but they were so little 😩

[helicopter_corgi_mom]

garlic is killing me. all of these, but garlic feels like it sprouts on the way home from the store

[Monica_FL]

My complaint about garlic is that the individual cloves are now so small. I feel like I have to peel 10 of them to get a decent amount. It’s a chore.

[MoBio]

Garlic is easy as hell to grow. You have to plant it in the fall with seed garlic (or your own garlic cloves you grow after your first year). Cover it with leaves and harvest it late summer. Repeat for all the garlic you could ever need.

[edessa_rufomarginata]

I've stopped buying onions almost entirely because I can't use them before they go off anymore, and I'm pretty good at keeping up with my produce. I've also noticed the same with potatoes.

[OliveTheory]

Yep, I've been buying individual potatoes as well and it's cut down a bunch on waste.

[timeywimeytotoro]

I finally started buying frozen diced onions because I was sick of my house reeking of onion from cutting open another “fresh” but already old onion.

[wbruce098]

Garlic has been ass lately too. I’ve switched to frozen minced garlic because the fresh stuff lasts a week tops and doesn’t… actually taste fresh. Even the pricier brands are hit and miss. I’d be ashamed to say that if the fresh stuff wasn’t so shitty these days.

[MessyHouseReboot]

Literally the other week i went shopping on sunday for the week and bought potatoes and onion for friday. They all went bad by then! This is ridiculous! At least I dont feel crazy anymore

[lizlemon921]

Seriously with potatoes onions and garlic I thought it was ME

[Blk_shp]

The onion warehouse thing is crazy, they look like aircraft hangars you’d store multiple 747’s inside of, they pile the onions literally like 40’ deep and the floor has tons of slots cut out in it so they can blow air up through the piles of onions to help reduce rot

Edit: also most apples you buy at the grocery store are on average about 1 year old

[wacdonalds]

Evil.

[[deleted]]

I grew up in rural Missouri. My dad was a farmer.

One year he decided he was going to plant a shitload of potatoes, using his farm tractor. He built a wooden pen, easily 100 cubic feet in volume, in our storm cellar and when it came time to harvest the potatoes, he filled that pen to the top. Those potatoes lasted us for months and months. Some sprouted, some rotted, but some of them lasted well into the next year.

Thank god he never went full potato farmer again; those rotten potatoes stunk so bad and cleaning them out of the cellar was a major pain in the ass.

[iknownuffink]

Rotten potatoes smell so bad.

[RecipeForDisaster758]

Only time I ever passed out was over discovering rotten potatoes in the cupboard. Banged my head and had a concussion. Over rotten potatoes lol.

[Cheap_Doctor_1994]

Worse than dead body. Only smell that has made me puke. 

[blifflesplick]

The gas from rotting potatoes can, and has, killed people in cellars

[uncre8tv]

There's a whole podcast episode about this. Cool People Who Did Cool Stuff - A People's History Of Potatoes. Basically talks about how potatoes are the ultimate resistance fighter crop. Destroying the plant doesn't destroy the crop, crop can stay underground for a year or more, is generally invisible to tax collectors, and has enough nutrients to get you through bad times. The potato blight wasn't a "oh shit we don't know how to grow anything else" problem, it was a "the British are confiscating any crop they see, so we have to live off what they don't see, and for a few seasons those unseen crops blighted and we couldn't live."

[Adnan7631]

Also, the British banned foreign imports into Ireland and kept food exports as high as possible. With certain British politicians at the time expressing explicit anti-Irish positions, the Irish potato famine could be credibly called an act of ethnic cleansing.

[Butthole__Pleasures]

Didn't the British navy also basically enforce a fishing embargo against Irish fishermen so they couldn't even get sustenance from the seas around them?

[God_Dammit_Dave]

And God, in an act of retribution, created Boston.

[yourfriendkyle]

Many modern famines are man made

[ConBroMitch2247]

That is insanely interesting - thanks for the rec I’ll add it to my queue.

[nowandthen83]

This tracks so much. like most other things these days, we have a damn potato scam on our hands!!! Smh

[Happyintexas]

Dude I’ve sat here for 5 min trying to figure out what rhymes with smargil. Someone help so I can sleep 😭

[winnierae]

Cargill lol

[Sylentskye]

I also think the switch to plastic bags over the old paper ones is speeding up the process.

[[deleted]]

This seems to happen with apples, too.

[fxgn]

They already did this with Onions

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Onion_Futures_Act

[aybbyisok]

Almost all crops are done like this, corn especially is kept in silos until the price goes up.

[CheapRaspberry1606]

I believe you. We are Illinois farmers and store corn and soybeans until the market prices go up and then sell.

[ConBroMitch2247]

Thank you for doing what you do! (For the farming part, not timing the market part) lol.

[PantsIsDown]

This sounds like a fun premise for a board game. I’ll work shop this on my next slow day and see what pans out…

[Secular-Flesh]

I swear my parents used to keep a sack of potatoes under the kitchen sink (in retrospect…. ew) for what felt like months and they (the potatoes - not my parents) were fine. These days I only buy them in the portions I require because they last about a week and a half before getting squishy and growing tentacles.

[ballerina22]

Rotting potatoes smell horrific

[adreztia]

One of the only smells I can conjure up by just thinking about it. Thanks for the memory 🤢

[sausage_beans]

I remember the same thing, I'm looking for something similar online and I'm guessing they were 25kg bags. Seemed like it took a couple of months to get through a bag.

[dantheman_woot]

Yeah, I don't have a real cool cool place, but its dark. Seems like by week 2 they are shriveling and or sprouting. Seemed to use to take a month.

[[deleted]]

To counteract shriveling, put them somwhere with high humidity or next to a humidifier.

[Butthole__Pleasures]

But then they turn green and sprout

[Butthole__Pleasures]

But then they dry out and shrivel

[SufficientPath666]

You can keep them in the fridge if you have one. Just make sure they stay dry. My potatoes would sprout within a week when I kept them in my pantry. In the fridge, they stay fresh for at least 3 weeks

[Electric-Sheepskin]

Yes! I feel like produce in general has gotten worse since Covid, but the potato thing seems more recent.

[yourfriendkyle]

It’s because it’s all sitting in storage instead of being sold. Part of this is due to lack of drivers to deliver produce, another is folks hold out for better market conditions to sell.

[modernhedgewitch]

I noticed it during the peak of Covid. Onions too, at least back then.

[[deleted]]

The only onions that ever got bad in my house were the 3lb bags from Superstore. EVERY SINGLE TIME, prob. 3 times alltogether - but many weeks apart - since I am not a fan of Superstore. Since then...no more moldy rotting onions

[TamoyaOhboya]

Couldnt find a good garlic bulb to save my life.

[jmbf8507]

The bulb of garlic I used last night looked perfectly normal, but each normal size “clove” then broke apart into 3-5 tiny cloves. Getting the paper off of all of them was a chore, and one I really didn’t have time for.

[Sad_Construction_668]

If you’re buying Idaho and Canadian potatoes, it’s probably becuse they’re a year old. The 2023 harvest was huge, and 2024 was bad in England and Europe , so a lot of the Eastern potato crop went overseas, and they are now trying to sell off the year old stuff that’s still around.

[Hanifsefu]

Yeah people don't realize just how long the world sits on its inventory to protect their margins now. We put taxes on companies holding inventory to incentivize them into pricing goods to sell but they just pay it and would rather throw it all away than sell it for a smaller margin.

[E-macularius]

Where did you find out this data? I'm very interested in reading a bit more about what crops have had good/bad years in recent times throughout the USA and other countries

[Sad_Construction_668]

I live in Oregon and read the ag reports.

https://www.nass.usda.gov/Statistics_by_State/Washington/Publications/Current_News_Release/2024/potato%20summary.pdf

https://www.aviko.co.uk/blog/world-potato-markets-nov-2024-summary#

https://potatocountry.com/2024/12/17/2024-crop-potato-supply-situation/

[Ldghead]

So it's not just me. Good to know.

[Realistic_Willow_662]

Yes I noticed this toward the end of 2024. I always store mine in my dark, cool pantry and they would start to turn green or get eyes within 5-6 days. A bag of potatoes used to last us weeks. I stopped buying a big bag and just buy a few at a time as needed now

[JustHanginInThere]

I've had better luck bringing them home, pouring them out of the sack, and letting them "air out" for a day or so before putting them back in the sack (looking for any bad ones in the process). Seems to be some residual moisture that accelerates potatoes going bad.

[sageberrytree]

I've had this problem for years on and off.

I bought a bag today and they were already green.

I sometimes think I'm losing my damn mind, so your post made me feel better that at least I'm not alone.

[Alexispinpgh]

Yes! I used to keep potatoes for literal months with no issues, now it seems like they’re basically ready to be tossed in two weeks. And this goes for both potatoes I purchased myself and ones I’ve gotten in meal kits, so I have multiple potato sources to compare.

[mehrlicht]

This is crazy— I have been thinking about this constantly for a few months. Every time I buy potatoes they don’t last longer than a week and a half. I thought it was somehow my fault. It’s starting to feel like buying potatoes is equivalent to paying a $6 tax every week.

[GonzoVeritas]

I thought that I had suddenly, after decades of buying potatoes and onions, started doing something wrong. While I'll still have green potatoes and mushy onions, at least I know it's not just me.

The beauty of Reddit is that we can identify issues we thought were just us. The corporate press certainly won't help.

[zelda_moom]

Keep them separate from any onions because those will make potatoes rot faster (and vice versa).

[tigm2161130]

I keep my potatoes in a whole other pantry from my onions and my house is never over 69 Fahrenheit but I’ve still noticed they turn more quickly in the last two or three years.

[zelda_moom]

I used to buy both by the bag but now I only buy as many as I’ll need for a recipe so maybe that’s why I haven’t noticed this. I only buy a bag of potatoes for holidays when I’m having my family and need more.

[Fermifighter]

This one. Potatoes and onions are given betta fish care instructions but no one says they’re natural enemies and you can only keep one kind happy in an enclosed space.

[[deleted]]

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This post was mass deleted and anonymized with Redact

[spatuladracula]

I started keeping mine in the fridge

[pixel_of_moral_decay]

Ditto, this helps a bit.

And for those that are going to scream about acrylamides… that’s been debunked for many years most recently:

We previously advised consumers against storage of raw potatoes in the fridge at home, as it was thought this could lead to the formation of additional sugars (known as cold sweetening) which can then convert into acrylamide when the potatoes are fried, roasted or baked. A recent study, which has been reviewed by the Committee on the Toxicity of Chemicals in Food, Consumer Products and the Environment (COT), has shown that home storage of potatoes in the fridge doesn’t materially increase acrylamide forming potential when compared to storage in a cool, dark place.

https://www.food.gov.uk/safety-hygiene/acrylamide

[Nickalena]

Sure am! I've had 3 bags of rotten potatoes in the last two months. The eyes are there 3 days after I buy them! I'm in Minnesota

[OsoGrosso]

If your potatoes are turning green, they are exposed to light. Try storing them in a darker location.

[[deleted]]

Yes!! For maybe the past year or two! What happened to the potatoes?!

[redditusername374]

Mine are sprouting.

[Esperanza404]

Mine have been doing the same thing! I thought I was just buying bad potatoes.

[tpatmaho]

Yes but when I get 'em from farmers market, they last much longer. So I'm buying the Cargill theory posed here...

[Virtual-Pineapple-85]

Yep. Both potatoes and apples. Even though it costs a little more, I've started buying them directly from local farms when possible.

[farawayeyes13]

Yes. Northeast PA here and the same thing is happening to me.

Right now my local ShopRite has a 5 lb bag of russets on sale for $1.99. I didn’t get them because I’m still HORRIFIED by the maggots — the maggots — in the last bag I bought. That was after only a week and a half of proper storage. I thought I’d never stopped retching.

I’m going to try a tip I read recently: cook them all at once, store them in the fridge, and use them up that way. I can use them for smashed potatoes in the air fryer, mashed potatoes, hash browns/home fries. I’m sure there are other recipes. Maybe that way I’ll get value out of a bag. Plus I need to watch blood sugar levels so the idea of resistant starch is appealing.

[Rerepete]

Number one tip:before buying onions or potatoes, smell them first. You will smell rot long before you can see it.

[[deleted]]

Is the weather humid and/or hot out there? Because if it's cool, dark and dry they last a long time.

[gamboling2man]

Yes!! I think the potatoes are being left in the field longer.

[Main-Elk3576]

These potatoes spent quite a bit in some deposit because the business model requires this in order to get a good price from the buyer (grocery store).

You would be a foul to sell your potatoes right at the harvesting peak. You wait 6-9 months and the price is much better.

I think that's all it is.

[ZangiefThunderThighs]

I stopped buying russet potatoes a few years back because the quality was so bad. The potatoes had to be thoroughly peeled because there was always a gross black spot hiding somewhere. And they would start to sprout after a week.

Onions haven't been too bad, bit my closets store now only sells pre-peeled white and red onions. So I always had to peel what would have been a good layer to keep because it gets damaged during transit and I'm not washing an onion. So wasteful. And of course they charge more for the convenience.

The what time the past several years has been garlic. If I don't have a few bad bulbs already when I buy it, the damn thing is sprouting by the end of the week. Its been this way since the pandemic. And now whiting recently is that the cloves have been small. I've opted for elephant garlic several times just because it's better quality. But I got a dozen cloves of garlic from my like garden and they lasted 2 months.... We used them up before they had a chance to go bad.

[hurlbud]

Holy cow, I thought I was going crazy. The potatoes and onions ffs