The Leonard Lopate Show

Are green,orange and red peppers all the same vegetable at different stages of maturity? Why are the orange and red ones so much more expensive than the green?

I want to ask your guest how to store onions. I for years struggled with them because they rotten so quickly.

How can you tell if a peach or nectarine is of the variety that is free from the pit, as compared to the kind that attaches and breaks off in a more stringy way?

Why do many pears and apples rot from the inside out? When they finally appear ripe on the outside they are rotten inside.

I find that I don't get enough fruits or vegetables because they spoil so quickly. What do you recommend buying that will stay good for a while?

There are a couple of websites for local produce:

www.localharvest.org & www.theorganicpages.com.

When you thump watermelons at the market you must remember that unless you have perfect thumping pitch, and can remember what a ripe watermelon sounds like, you should look at the watermelons that have already been cut open, and get a general sense of the ripeness of the batch. For example, if you see that the 1/4'rd watermelons are already soft, then you should modify your search and choose a melon with a higher pitched thump.

Great show, but I'd add that onions, garlic if squeezed, tell you how fresh they are If you can crush one in your hand, or one feels soft, pass it up.

Also, look around at the others in the same bin. Do they look fresh, healthy, or are they abused, and old looking?

I'm one of those who see red when someone yanks down the top of an ear of corn. Often they have no idea what they're looking for, and they ruin it.