IT’S A DIRTY LITTLE SECRET THAT MOST OF US WOULD RATHER
NOT THINK ABOUT. “THE GROSSEST STUFF IS ON YOUR
FRUITS AND VEGETABLES. THERE ARE LITTLE MITES, THERE’S
TINY WORMS, THERE’S DIRT, THERE’S PESTICIDES, INSECTICIDES
AND FUNGICIDES AND HAND OILS. UP TO 20 OR 30 PEOPLE
TOUCH YOUR FOOD BEFORE YOU EAT IT.”
This was the spark that led Mequon’s Ali Florsheim and Melina Marcus to create Rebel Green’s Fruit and Veggie Clean, a natural produce cleaner that helps get rid of the creepy stuff found on conventional and even organic produce. “A good produce wash was very hard to find,” Melina tells me over the phone during a moment of downtime from Rebel Green’s packed schedule of crosscountry trade shows. “Before I was washing my produce with dish soap and that’s just not a good idea. I just remember there were so many recalls growing up of fruits and vegetables that I thought whatever is happening I want peace of mind to know I’m cleaning my produce well.”