[riffraff]

> Virtually every food item is packaged in plastic

Is it? Most of what I buy (vegetables, fruits, bread, eggs, milk, pasta, flour, sugar, salt, oil) is not.

Meat, fish, rice, and cheese are the things that require some plastic, afaict, but do not constitute the majority of food.

[GordonS]

Yes, a lot of fruit and veg is usually loose, unless you're buying it pre-chopped. There is still a lot of fruit and veg that is wrapped in plastic though.

I don't think I've ever seen pasta not in a plastic wrapper?

For milk, it's usually in a plastic bottle, but often in tetra-pak type containers (don't honestly know what they're made of!).

With oil, it's usually in a plastic bottle, occasionally a glass one for more expensive EV olive oils, and rarely in Europe I've seen shops with oil dispensers that allow you to fill your own container.

For eggs, they are usually in a cardboard box, but occasionally in a plastic one.

For salt, I think I've only ever seen it in plastic bottles or bags.

[icebraining]

> tetra-pak type containers (don't honestly know what they're made of!).

It's layers of plastic, aluminum and paper glued together. The first two can't be separated, but they claim it's reused somewhere in construction.

[savoytruffle]

In my kitchen cupboards right now, I have all of these things packaged in plastic and I've never seen an alternative except sometimes milk in returnable glass jugs that nobody in the store knows how to ring up to get the deposit back.

[riffraff]

interesting, where do you live? I have seen pasta packaged in plastic, but I've literally never seen flour packaged in plastic.