GREAT post. One of my pet peeves is supermarket fruit. Generally looks teriffic but has no flavor or doesn't ripen. We throw away or return so much of what we buy. I grew up on a place that had hundreds of various fruit trees and a huge garden. Store produce is very poor. NOT always but quite often. Long for the days of the produce I had as a kid.

'S up with all them dang ID stickers on so many varieties?

Like Doublesharp said;

Sample it prior to buying. Safeway will allow you to sample fruits. The produce personnel will even slice it for you. That’s the best way to buy.

Long shelf life and ease of harvest and shipping are valued above all else.

We here in the Midwest get mediocre produce year round because of this. You in the growing regions get the same shit because of us. About the only thing I can depend on is sweet corn (in season) and apples. Farmers markets for garden crops.

quote:

Originally posted by signewt:
'S up with all them dang ID stickers on so many varieties?

Ever wonder how they track a shit infested head of lettuce back to the field it came from?

what i don’t understand is why fruit and veggies coming from peru or chile or costa rica is so much more tasty than the same grown here. i buy peru onions almost exclusively now. and fruit from chile when available.

quote:

Originally posted by doublesharp:
Regions do make a difference but it's really all about the sugar content when picked. Fine edged sword. You get best flavor but you don't have shelf life if you harvest when ripe and mature. I spent 24 years as a produce buyer and the most important tool I had was my knife. Sample the product. Even when peaches or nectarines were hard if the sugar was there you could taste it.

Nothing beats buying local and harvest at peak ripeness. Very hard to find that at a supermarket.

Oranges now have either been in cold controlled atmosphere storage for several months or else they are from s of the equator. Most of what I see are storage from California and the season is dwindling. I like med lg size navels 80 or 88 count. Large 56 size do have thick peels from Cal. Peak season is Jan/Feb. Now a Fl navel has a thin skin and is delicious but seldom seen outside the state.

this,



and Cantalope,,

having grown up eating Turbeville Cantalope, all of the stuff you get in the grocery stores pale in comparison,


however, local season for lopes is fast approaching,,

I was affiliated with the most successful markets in Louisville, Paul's Fruit Markets and helped him set up an air freight tomato operation back in the late 80s where we had a crew of tomato pickers pick out of Ft Myers Fl, started in Immokolee but later found a u-pick grower in Ft Misery nearer the airport. Tomatoes were picked showing color. Not dead red but breaking good, star pink was the usual term.

We packed in single layer 10lb boxes with a 1/2" foam liner on bottom and a bubble pack liner on top then we had a deal with UPS to pack their storage containers with the boxes of tomatoes and air ship to Louisville. Very labor intensive but also very successful and we had something no one else had. They had to come by air because riding on a truck was too slow plus the bouncing is too hard on ripe tomatoes. Fl tomatoes get a bad rap because most are picked solid green and gas ripened. If you pick Fl tomatoes ripe or near ripe they have good flavor.

Same time frame I'd live at a by the week furnished motel in Forest Park Ga during April-mid May buying southern vegetables off the Atlanta farmers mkt. I got 30 cents a package for buying and supervising loading the truck. Again it gave us something that other stores/markets didn't have. Paul's is still going strong but I got the chance to sell my store to his general mgr back in 97 and I've been living on mail box money since. Still have the real estate and it was still a market/deli until this spring. Now vacant. Small business casualty wuflu played a part in.

My market in the mid 90s

Some foods are always going to be good and you can count on them.

Palisade Peaches from Palisade Colorado, Olathe corn from Olathe Colorado, are some I look for every year and buy a lot of. Hatch Chiles from Hatch NM.

I'm sure there are other items around the country, probably more regional.

^^^^^
Vidalia Onions

quote:

Originally posted by Aglifter:
Those Japanese berries could be from the US. They are known for buying up the top end of the supply - they will pay, several times what they could be sold for in the US.

They do import U. S. strawberries but mostly for use in cakes, pastries, frozen goods, etc. When they're in season, most of the fresh strawberries in the markets will be domestic. Regardless of where they're from, the origin will be clearly marked. Japanese strawberries are excellent, and many different areas have their own varieties. I was told by one of the farmers we visited that the shelf life of Japanese strawberries isn't as long as U. S. strawberries but they sure do taste good. Of course, we have some excellent strawberries too, but unfortunately, not in the supermarkets near me.

quote:

Originally posted by kramden:
GREAT post. One of my pet peeves is supermarket fruit. Generally looks teriffic but has no flavor or doesn't ripen. We throw away or return so much of what we buy. I grew up on a place that had hundreds of various fruit trees and a huge garden. Store produce is very poor. NOT always but quite often. Long for the days of the produce I had as a kid.

THIS!

Virtually all the watermelons we get here are the genetically engineered seedless variety. When they took the seeds out they also took the flavor. Bring back the big ole oblong seeded watermelons. My Dad had a knack for picking 'em.

quote:

Originally posted by 229DAK:

quote:

Originally posted by kramden:
GREAT post. One of my pet peeves is supermarket fruit. Generally looks teriffic but has no flavor or doesn't ripen. We throw away or return so much of what we buy. I grew up on a place that had hundreds of various fruit trees and a huge garden. Store produce is very poor. NOT always but quite often. Long for the days of the produce I had as a kid.

THIS!

Virtually all the watermelons we get here are the genetically engineered seedless variety. When they took the seeds out they also took the flavor. Bring back the big ole oblong seeded watermelons. My Dad had a knack for picking 'em.

Yes!! Those old big watermelon were so good.

I'm uncertain how accurate this is, but I've heard that now with all the GMO seed companies, and the money to be made, that they've made it really difficult to buy the old fashioned seeds that made the wonderful taste and quality of the old days.

We used to get lots of Black Diamond watermelons around here, but nowadays they're so hard to find, the growers have difficulty getting the seed.

I cut back significantly on the fruit I eat after going low carb in early 2018. Through a lot of my reading, supermarket fruit have been modified from natural to be more sweet - to the detriment of good health if over eaten.

About the worst thing you can consume is fruit juice - whether or not it has sugar added. Right up there with coke or pepsi or big gult whathaveyou. Goes straight to your liver and fattens it right up.

Back to fruit..., only a few showed up being recommended - most of them are berries, and of course, avocados. As far as getting them from the supermarket, I use these lists to see which fruits or vegetables are more likely to have pesticides in them, whether to buy organic:

EWG’s 2020 Shopper’s Guide to Pesticides in Produce

Clean Fifteen

Dirty Dozen

I worked 9 years in the Produce dept of a local Supermarket and can tell you the quality,taste,color,size,etc.,of fruit and veggies can change with the seasons and growing conditions and what country it comes from.This is really true with fruit,usually early season fruit will come from South and Central American countries and later in the season from the U.S.and even local growers especially tomato’s and sweet corn.