Did you prefer your fruit and vegs to today

[amethyst]

Were the fruit and veg tasting better in the past

Strawberries used to be nice and sweet now in supermarkets there isnt much taste to them

Growing your own definetely is more tastier,when my neighbour gave me his home grown ordinary lettuce to try it was delicious,the supermarkets are awful

[darren]

Re: Did you prefer your fruit and vegs to today

i think todays fruit and veg is just as nice as it was back then but thats only if its sold in proper fruit and veg shops.


we have a shop not long open that gets all its stuff from a farm no sprays or pesticides are used.
the shop is owned by the people who own the farm the food comes from.

Supermarket fruit etc i think has all manner of sprays used which kills the goodness of fruit and veg.

[amethyst]

Re: Did you prefer your fruit and vegs to today

In supermarkets the fruit and veg come from all over the world,local shops mean local produce which is better

[battyrat]

Re: Did you prefer your fruit and vegs to today

Seems to be a hit and miss affair when buying fruit and veg in the supermarkets.Often the smaller mis-shapen fruit sold off cheaper tastes better then the better looking more expensive examples.It's not always the case but sometimes its worth the gamble.Other things like tomatoes seem to be forced grown and have little taste compared to home grown.It's not just fruit and veg I have found some meats like chicken and pork to be rather bland compared to what they used to taste like only a few years ago.Someone told me that your taste buds change as you get older and they possibly do which could account for some of the blandness and diffrences in certain foods.Then again I expect going back 30-40 years ago more food was sourced locally from the surrounding area or at least from the uk and not imported.

[darren]

Re: Did you prefer your fruit and vegs to today

it seems supermarkets want spuds perfectly round or they wont take them.

i remember hearing a place that grew spuds near went out of buasiness because supermarkets would take em with any blemishes or werte not perfectly round.

but normal fruit and veggie sghops do thankfully.
they just given a very good clean all the fruit etc and off they goto be sold in specialist shops.


and stuff from supermarkets really is not as tasty as it was back in the day.
they want fruit a certain way.

i only buy from my local producers the food thats grown here in ireland.

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Seems to be a hit and miss affair when buying fruit and veg in the supermarkets.Often the smaller mis-shapen fruit sold off cheaper tastes better then the better looking more expensive examples.It's not always the case but sometimes its worth the gamble.Other things like tomatoes seem to be forced grown and have little taste compared to home grown.It's not just fruit and veg I have found some meats like chicken and pork to be rather bland compared to what they used to taste like only a few years ago.Someone told me that your taste buds change as you get older and they possibly do which could account for some of the blandness and diffrences in certain foods.Then again I expect going back 30-40 years ago more food was sourced locally from the surrounding area or at least from the uk and not imported.

[battyrat]

Re: Did you prefer your fruit and vegs to today

Funny thing is I remember buying spuds in the supermarket years ago still with good ole dirt on them now they are srubbed almost sergically to remove any trace of the things growing in the ground.It's not only taste but fruit and veg expecially certainly does not last all that long anymore.Onions used to last weeks if not several months before they started to sprout or shrivel up.Today if I buy from a supermarket I will be lucky if they survive a week or two before I have to throw them out.

[Sly]

Re: Did you prefer your fruit and vegs to today

My Granddad used to grow veg in his garden. As kids we used to go and help him uproot all the onions, of which he'd tie up somehow before hanging them in the outhouse where it was always cool even on the hottest days. As the months pasts from harvesting sometimes we'd be given the key to go unlock the outhouse and grab a string of onions. I remember doing this even at Christmas months after pulling them up.

He had a greenhouse too. We used to go picking the tomatoes. The ones that didn't fully ripen were placed on the window ledge in the back room where we sat to watch tv and eat with the green facing out so the sun could get on it. Once they were nice and ripe they were washed, sliced, lightly dipped in vinegar and then sprinkled with salt and pepper. They tasted amazing.

My other grandparents had a strawberry patch that ran down the entire garage and plot around the back. The strawberries were often misshapen and ugly to look at, but they were fattened up by the Yorkshire rain and sweetened by the sun. They couldn't have tasted any better.

[amethyst]

Re: Did you prefer your fruit and vegs to today

We have got 2 troughs of strawberries they taste a lot better to the supermarket even the colour is darker red,but they are so delicious and sweet.Have been growing them for 2 years now but this years crop is a lot better more fruit,been feeding them more with phostrogen and tomato feed,probably has made a difference.On one of the episodes of gardeners world Monty Don went to see someone growing tomatoes his advice was feed them every day with tom feed he had a wapping crop of tomatoes from cherries to beef ones.

[shilton dipper]

Re: Did you prefer your fruit and vegs to today

veg was boiled in a pan when i was a child whereas today i use a steamer.........i prefer steam cooking it and probably eat and like more veg today........i'm not a big fruit eater, never really have been........have to be in the mood but i can usually be persuaded to eat some nice seedless red grapes

[DemonEyeX]

Re: Did you prefer your fruit and vegs to today

i use a steamer

I also love my steamer, the veg retains more of it's goodies rather than boiling.

However, more & more these days I am eating raw veg.
Carrot, celery, radishes, spring onion, cucumber, I love raw broccoli, & I make a lot of slaw with raw cabbage.

I am lucky enough to have an allotment, so I grow all my own stuff.
Everything tastes so much better that what is available in supermarkets.
My strawberries are out of this world this year.

So, yes, I definitely prefer fruit & particularly veg as an adult.
There is no way on earth the 8 year old me would be eating raw broccoli.

[Happymama]

Re: Did you prefer your fruit and vegs to today

I use a steamer too, rather than boiling the death out of veg like my mum did. But the veg is the same, largely for me because I buy organic, which it pretty much was when I was a kid in the 70's. I ate raw cabbage from the field behind the house when I was a kid! mine get it in their lunchboxes sometimes.

I grow my own too. Haven't bought a tomato since June.

Darren has outlined what's wrong with supermarkets - they tie a grower into a full crop commitment and then can refuse to buy it ... too late to find a home for 12,000 cabbages, they usually rot.

Read Tescopoly if you don't believe me. There are Kenyan farmers who think Tesco is a country.

[xmark1234]

Re: Did you prefer your fruit and vegs to today

didnt have any junk food was todays out come

[DemonEyeX]

Re: Did you prefer your fruit and vegs to today

I definitely enjoy fruit & veg more as an adult.
I am another DYRer who grows his own produce.
Had an awesome year for growing this year, thought it was gonna be rough, but turned out great.
Don't wanna brag too much, but we won first prize for best kept allotment, and I would put my strawberries up against anyone for a taste challenge !
Tee hee.

I completely agree with Happymama about supermarkets, and Tesco in particular.
They will not be happy until everyone else is out of business, then they will be our only option.
So, support your local independent shops !

Anyway, these days I find myself eating more & more raw veg, as well as tons of fruit.
I eat things as an adult that I would have hated as a kid, such as raw broccoli (with a tasty dip of course).
I am very food conscious & steer clear of anything processed, or with artificial additives.
I have read some incredibly scary stuff about food additives over the past few years.
Has anyone here heard of a product called HEK293 made by a company called Senomyx ? If not, look it up, it's mindblowing stuff.
Also where the 'Active Bacteria' comes from in those little yoghurt drinks, again, look it up, it's not nice, believe me.

It's stuff like that which compels me to cook every meal myself from scratch, using as much organic British produce as possible, meat has to be top quality & locally sourced, all veg has to be thoroughly washed, it takes extra time & effort, as well as money, but it's totally worth it.

But also when I was a kid, all veg was boiled to death, with all the nutrients boiled away.
Now I steam veg, with added flavours, so I suppose they would taste better these days.

I still eat takeaway style food though, but I make it myself from scratch.
Chinese, Mexican, Indian, Italian, my own healthier versions of takeaway standards.

So anyway, fruit & veg these days, absolutely, as much as possible !