Yes, of course, but it's really not a new problem. Produce which comes through commercial channels, for the most part, is picked in an immature state (depending on crop, of course), shipped long distances, held at temperatures way too cold to promote any further ripening, and kept around way, way too long.

Very few things can compare in quality to home-grown. We all know the recent trials and tribualations of store tomatoes, which first were, according to the FDA, causing a salmonella outbreak, and then later were not. But, salmonella or not, that doesn't change the fact that most of them taste about as good as the cardboard boxes they come in. It's actually really, really easy to simulate a grocery store tomato at home -- just pick one off the vine when it's just barely turning color, then stick it in your fridge for up to two weeks. When you bring it out (assuming it hasn't rotted, because you haven't embalmed it in waxes and fungicides like a commercial packer would), it should taste like cardboard. Which is exactly what the overpriced grocery store ones taste like.

One of my absolute pet peeves are mangoes. A really great, ripe mango is fantastic. But, the ones from the store, at least the large 'Tommy Atkins' type most often seen, are picked EXTREMELY GREEN. They are then shipped in cartons which explicitly instruct NOT to chill them below 50 to 55 degrees. But, time after time, I've seen the produce people at grocery stores pulling them out of the back, ice cold, having kept them in the same, 35 degree cooler the rest of the produce was in. Once this happens, they never ripen, just turn black around the pit. I've had better luck with the small yellow Mexican mangos, which seem to be picked and shipped a bit more ripe.

Another issue which affects the quality of produce is the breeding goals of plant breeders who develop commercial varieties. I once got my hands on catalog from a commercial strawberry plant grower who sold to farmers, u-pick operations, and large-scale processors. It was a very eye-opening read. The catalog talked about the breeding of each variety, and proudly trumpeted things like "highest lignin content of any strawberry bred to date," or "ability to ship and hold for up to 10 days," that sort of thing (for those of you who don't know this, lignin is one of the two compounds which make wood, the other is cellulose). In other words, these breeders were intentionally developing tough, woody strawberries which would ship well. Flavor or sweetness didn't even seem to be on their radar. This seems to be true of a lot of commercial breeding, which stresses toughness and longevity of the produce over flavor and eating quality.

Anyway, I wish I could offer a solution for the plight of grocery store produce. I'm trying to grow most of my own, and want to live off of my preserved produce over the winter, so that I don't have to put up with buying this sad, overpriced stuff for the most part, other than salad items and a bit of fruit, mostly things I can't grow here like Citrus. Realistically, I don't know what more the growers, packers, and stores could do to improve the situation. A lot of things, like tomatoes, peaches, strawberries can't be picked and shipped in the manner they are now when fully ripe, because they're just too fragile. Some things, like storing tropical produce at too low of temperatures, is just a matter of sloppy practice by the stores and produce managers, and probably won't change unless more consumers understand WHY the quality of their mangos stinks, and then speak up and complain about it.

Other than growing your own, the only other solutions are to try to buy more local produce from farm stands, farmers markets, etc., and also, it does help to be selective about where you shop, some grocery stores do a better job than others of trying to keep things fresh, and some specialty produce markets and gourmet markets have nicer produce, albeit often pricey, than do chain grocery stores or mom and pop grocers.

Those are some of my thoughts on the matter.

Dennis
SE Michigan

As Dennis said, the quality can vary tremendously from one market to the next. But, even in those markets where you have traditionally gotten 'decent' produce, this last year's has been dismal to almost pathetic.

The potatoes I've gotten taste like old closets smell. There is not life to them, they're limp and spoiled under the skin half the time. This is bad enough, but they're also twice the price they were last year.

I noticed something strange going on with tomatoes at least five years ago. They go into some sort of suspended animation. The seeds inside them actually start to germinate, so that when you cut one up, there are tiny plants starting in the pulp.

Thank God my onions are now ready to harvest, as the last bg I bought from the market, the second one I took out of it was already rotten.

So much of it has to do with getting things a few cents cheaper. It all goes to central distribution points and then shipped out. What do you expect?

I've been reading some literature on treating fruits with irradiation. They're already doing it to some strawberries to increase shelf life. Not that food irradiation doesn't have useful safety applications, but the dosages fruit gets is for shelf life/profit only.

There is an alternative which hasn't been mentioned yet in this discussion: Community Supported Agriculture.

This is a means of "subscribing" to family-owned, smaller farms which send you a box of produce on a regular basis, depending on their own particular arrangement. Some are weekly, some biweekly. Some are veggies only; some are fruits; others have their own combinations, depending on the individual farm.

There are hundreds of CSAs in the United States, and quite a few in Canada. I'm not sure about countries outside North America.

An Internet search on "community supported agriculture" returns thousands of hits. I've added one I've used before to this message.

Good luck finding yummy produce; CSAs may be the solution, if there's one near you.

in el cerrito

Here is a link that might be useful: Community Supported Agriculture

Thanks denninmi - calliope and cynthia for your responses, they were well thought out. I'm aware of how some veggies are picked green and irradiated, and I'm aware of community supported agriculture. In fact CSA was on my mind for my two acres years ago, (hence the name Sandhill Farms), but somehow my job got in the way of going through with it, along with increased water prices. I guess what spurred this question is the fact that it wasn't this way years ago. Back then the produce seemed a whole lot better than the junk I'm finding in the stores now. I think a lot of it comes from foreign countries, and if I find-out that it is I won't buy it. Also in the markets you can now find GMO's and I won't buy them either...I just don't feel that we should be playing around with mother nature in that way, but then that's just me.

Anyway, great responses, I'm looking forward to hearing more of your experiences and thoughts on this.

Greg
Nevada

Compared to all the other stores around here I find that Safeway has the best produce. They are the only store with and active produce section manager who is out there talking with customers. And their prices are lower than most of the other larger grocery stores.
Tom

Greg: Where I live it depends on where you buy produce. Some of the stores have veggies that are horrible, shriveled, ready for the compost heap. Other stores have veggies and fruit that looks like it was just harvested. Some have those misters that keep the veggies in excellent condition. The only decent Farmer's Market here is too far away for us to save anything. Those sellers in the flea markets and along the roadsides are awful.

greenhouser wrote:

"Other stores have veggies and fruit that looks like it was just harvested."

Yes, and that's what I'm trying to say I believe. In the big chain store where we shop, (Smith's), the produce "LOOKS" fresh and "just harvested." However the shelf life is non-existent, which tells me the stuff was harvested long before it ever reached the store. I'm sure they have all sorts of ways of deceiving the buying public, (lighting - waxes - etc.), but when you get it home and it turns to mush a day or two later that's what tells the story.

This isn't a rant against grocery stores in particular, it's just that quality of products in this country (across the board) are poor, while the prices go up. I'm all for CSA's and Farmers Markets.

As a side note to what you wrote, I was up in northern Nevada a month ago on a job and shopped in a small town (non-chain) store. The produce was excellent, and the corn on the cob, (my favorite), was fantastic).

Greg
Nevada

It is close to impossible to find good quality onions in our grocery chain stores. The onions look good in the store. Get them home and start using them and they will have brown layers starting about two three layers down. Within a few days, they are turning soft and end up in the compost bin. Or another thing is the onions start getting black mold on them within days of purchase and quickly rot. The outer layer or skin is clean and normal. Peel one layer down and you see the mold. I read this can happen if onions are not allowed to dry out for a few days before packing. So I think the growers are just ripping them out of the ground and stuffing them in boxes, shipping them in refrigerated trucks from Lord knows where, and then the stores put them in the freezer on arrival. (We had NO PROBLEM with onions for the first 20+ years we lived here. The problem with poor quality for onions and other fresh fruit/produce started in the past 4 or 5 years. It could just be me, but I don't think I suddenly forgot how to store onions at home.)

The thing that upsets me most with our local chain grocers is their absolute refusal to identify the origin of fresh fruits and vegetables. There is a large farmers market within 25 miles of us, but it is not convenient to visit on even a weekly basis. In city traffic it is a one hour transit each way. So we are mostly stuck with local grocers for things we don't, or can't grow ourselves. Like onions. The farmers market identifies the place of origin of EVERYTHING it sells. It is huge and they sell both locally grown and imported fruits and vegetables. So why can't the national chains do the same?

Opal...You mean to tell me that you live in Georgia and are having a problem with onions - LOL! What about the infamous "Vidalia," aren't they grown in Georgia?

I know what you mean though, I've had problems with bad onions as well. It just seems as though the quality has dropped considerably while the prices go up.

Greg
Nevada

Hi Greg,

I got so caught up in my rant, it seems I forgot Vidalias! Of course, that's because they are so good and sweet, you forget they are onions :~). They are also relatively inexpensive. Others may use them for general purpose, but I tend to buy them for special recipes.

I was ranting about the general purpose yellow onions sold in three and five pound bags.

You know, I just can't bring myself to toss a perfectly good Vidalia onion into the stock pot. But maybe that's the solution after all. At least for a few months each year.

Guess I'm missing the good old days when grocers had experienced produce managers.

Although it has been quite a few years, my husband used to haul produce out of California, Texas and other southern states. After the truck was loaded, a chemical was opened inside the trailer which was to be kept closed until delivery. The chemical was supposed to keep things fresh looking and in the case of tomatoes make them "look" ripe. Tomatoes are picked totally green and hard and the chemical will give them that funny orangey/red color you see in most markets...this even goes for the so called vine ripened tomatoes (they only have to show a hint of color to be called vine ripened).

I live for this time of year...I only eat fresh picked from my own or friends gardens or a local farmers market. There is nothing that beats a warm tomato dripping down my chin that I picked seconds ago. Second best are those I use in cooking in the winter that I picked and froze within minutes of harvest. You cannot get tomatoes any better.

For the many foods I cannot grow myself due to space limitations or my own lack of skill...I will pay extra for local produce at the farmer's market. I talk to the growers and find out where their farms are and how long they have been growing. You do have to be careful though since I have been finding out more and more that some produce is being trucked in long distances to the more popular farmer's markets in our area (hence the getting to know you).

Kim

Kim

I'm really lucky in having a big produce/meat/cheese/coffee/deli store in my neighborhood - and they combine it with a huge nursery operation. These people have an incredible turnover of fresh produce and are advertising locally produced items when available. Local farmers can take in a crate of broccoli or squash and be sure it will be purchased at the going price since the store attracts buyers from miles around.
So it can be done. This store started out as an apple stand some 80 years ago and is now a three store chain. Their prices are very competitive and the quality is so far ahead of supermarkets that there is no comparison. A friend in the produce business told me that one reason is that they are willing to pay a few cents a pound extra to the wholesalers for the pick of the crop. Add a good wage and benefits program to the mix and you have a store it's a pleasure to buy from.
When they opened up in a dfferent city a few years ago, the local papers gave them the kind of welcome you expect of a rock star. But the mob scene on Wdnesday night (when everything in the store is 10% off and they provide free cider and cookies) is proof they are appreciated.

I talked to my mom about this the other day. I've noticed that more and more of my store-bought produce rots before it ripens. I don't remember that happening when I was a kid, so I asked my mom, and she said she had noticed the same thing and that she couldn't remember it back then either.

I've found this to be true since moving to KY some 15 years ago. Bought some Red Delicious apples last Winter and they looked great on the outside, no bruising but they were all brown inside. Everytime I go to buy something they are either rotten already or within a day or two they are. Really makes you angry when you spend so much money.

I quit buying tomatoes from the store years ago and grow my own. There's no comparision to my home grown tomatoes and those pale, tasteless things they sell. I'm now growing my own watermelon and canteloupe, although, I don't seem to be having much luck with the canteloupe. I hope the melons are better.