We propose a new method to calculate the particle-hole Green's function for an infinite system of fermions in the long-wavelength limit of the random-phase approximation. Contrary to the standard approach the present method does not require approximating the residual particle-hole interaction by a sum of separable terms. The method can also be applied to the Landau theory of Fermi liquids. We illustrate the method by evaluating the response function of nuclear matter in the long-wavelength limit for two different isospin channels.