Poor quality of grocery store produce

Melbo, same here as well. 45 years ago, I worked in the produce fields and all produce generally went to the market in NY.City. From there it was then sold to the chains and distrubiters and then redistributed back even to the salad belt in calif. Now, I am willing to bet you that about 50% or more of all produce and fruit is all imported. Especially from Mex. and so. am. So, they sit in wharehouse in mex. for a week or two, then loaded on a truck, then come across the border, (with probably 10 illegals hidden under the fruit etc) then go to the market place which is probably still nyc. Then back to us here in Az. and all the other places. Meat untill the last few years always went to chicago and the same thing. It is all about money. The people in the money game don't care if you get if fresh or not, only that they make more money for it. Of course I could be wrong about this , as they may want you to get it fresh and not care about the money , but not likely. LMAO

 

Grow your own or buy from local farmer's markets

Quite probably both, melbo, particularly if the produce was purchased by a large national supermarket chain.

According to some supermarket propaganda, importing produce from across the globe is necessary, because consumers DEMAND to have out of season fruit and vegetables whenever they like, and are prepared to pay the premium in $$$ to have it whenever they desire, whether nature is prepared to provide it from local farms or not. What the corporate supermarket giants fail to reveal, is that they make good profits for offering this “premium” service.
The other issue is that large supermarket chains will buy produce when it is cheap and in season, store it in a climate controlled environment and then sell it when it is out of season and is expensive to purchase from the producer, and in so doing, making a vast profit from the consumer (even taking into account the costs of long term storage and long distance transport).
Produce that has been selectively bred for transport to sale from producers who are many thousands of kilometres away from the consumer and that have been stored for many months or even longer, are less palatable, and keep less well, once they have made the transition from controlled commercial storage environments, and are well on the way to spoiling and rotting by the time they have found a temporary home in a supermarket display.
If you want good quality food…..grow your own or patronise a local farmer’s market. You will not believe the difference in taste, colour, texture and storage life of such an option…oh…and the more important benefit is that your food will have better nutritional value as well.
And if you simply MUST have produce yourself out of season….grow it yourself under glass….not only will you improve your own self sufficiency and self-reliance, you may find it a good little earner, supplying the drones in your locality with more money than sense, who STILL demand produce at ALL times of the year, regardless of whether or not nature is prepared to provide it in their little patch of paradise.

 

Take maximum advantage of local farmers markets for produce. I am lucky, I have at least 3 within short driving distance on 3 different days of week.

 

I've noticed it too.. and not just a little.. A LOT. It's like every store has "ALDI quality" produce.

 

Many of the stores here purchase local produce (piggly wiggly, IGA, etc..)
we buy produce and meat there, we buy canned goods and frozen goods where the best price is...

 

Aldi Fruit and Vegetables

I would have to agree in so far as fruit and veges are concerned, but where else will you end up buying a boat winch that can haul in the USS Missouri, when you only wanted to buy half a kilo of crappy turnips. : O

 

I suppose I was a little harsh. We have a grocery called Wegmans which still has good produce. Everyplace else.. not so much.But I think wegmans does get a lot of their in season stuff from local farms.

 

I noticed the extremely poor quality too, but chalked it up to a worthless produce manager. I've gone to the local HEB's and the produce is better, but not what it was a few months ag. Local farmer's Markets ARE the way to go!

jim

 

I once asked my wife why the tomatoes we grow taste so much better than the ones from the grocery store. Her reply? "The ones from the store are not grown to TASTE the best. They are grown to be stored, and transported thousands of miles and still LOOK Good on the grocer's shelves."
Did you know that eggs bought from a low-cost outlet store can be up to a YEAR old?
That's the biggest reason why we raise our own chickens, and we know that there are no hormones, steroids, or antibiotics in the meat we raise.
Produce from Mexico? Does anybody remember just a few years ago, the Hepatitus in the strawberries? The E-Coli in the spinach?
For some reason, it seems to be missing from the stuff we grow ourselves!