Moisture is the enemy of packed fruit

Moisture is the enemy of packed fruit, and most lunch box rot comes from trapped water, not the hours between packing and lunch.

So the first move is drying. If you wash berries or cut veg the night before, dry them in a salad spinner or pat them with a towel before they go in the box. Water on the surface is what turns cut fruit mushy and berries moldy. Then line the container with a paper towel — it absorbs the condensation from sitting in a warm bag and keeps leafy things crisp instead of slimy.

Rigid containers beat sandwich bags too. Bags let bananas and peaches knock into each other, and a yogurt cup will squish soft berries instantly. Use small hard containers so things don’t slide around.

Pay attention to ethylene. Bananas, apples, and tomatoes give off gas that ripens everything nearby, which is bad news if you packed broccoli or lettuce next to an apple. Keep the gas-producers separate, and if a banana is already spotty, it will gas the whole box.

And cut fruit the morning of, not the night before. Apples and pears brown even in containers; a squeeze of lemon slows that. If you pack the night before, go whole fruit. Cut avocado is never fine in a lunch box. Toss in an ice pack while you’re at it — a warm box ripens fast.

A $2 ice pack will save more produce than any fancy lunch box ever will.