There's a lot of good info in the notes, but my second mom ran a produce stand for 20 yrs so let me add some more:
- You bought them out of season, which means they've been picked underripe, in transit for potentially weeks, and forced to ripen in the supermarket w ethylene
- You bought them ripe or over ripe without cooking them immediately, always choose slightly under ripe if you want a supermarket vegetable to last more than a week
- You bought them at a supermarket, most supermarkets store vegetables before displaying them, and display in a way that is visually pleasing to customers rather than ideal for the vegetable.
- You unintentionally bruised them on the way home, or prior customers bruised them
- You left them in the vegetable bag from the store
- You are storing them inappropriately (no tomatoes in the fridge, no apples on the counter)
- Your fridge has mold spores, is too warm/too cold, needs a new door seal
search "how to keep produce fresh" on youtube and you'll get a ton of helpful videos showing all sorts of tricks to make produce last longer.
the simplest, easiest trick is to stick a paper towel in the package with the fruit and veg to absorb moisture. produce rots a lot faster when it's wet.
