Industrial Produce: What's the Worst?

[Chris Amirault]

I nominate celery. It's been months since any tasted like celery. Mouthful of salt and iodine, though.

What's your nomination for the industrial produce item that's consistently terrible?

[LizD518]

Tomatoes. I only needed one item - one tomato - for a dish I wanted to make last week. All the local grocery stores advertise that they are selling local tomatoes this time of year, so I figured I could find one decent tomato, since the farm I go to was closed.

It was HORRIBLE. The texture was like styrofoam, the taste was non-existent. I tried to force down a little of the salad I made but it was awful. I ended up throwing it out a few days later. It was a waste of good corn and avocado too!

[weinoo]

Strawberries get my vote. Though they make look beautiful, often they are just tasteless and mealy. They even look like styrofoam.

[Luke]

Hydroponic Herbs, especially Basil and Cilantro. No flavour at all.

Luke

[HungryC]

I nominate peaches. Hard when purchased, only to ripen in the fruit bowl to a mealy, tastless peach-colored mouth of sawdust.

[Chris Amirault]

Hydroponic Herbs, especially Basil and Cilantro. No flavour at all.

Agreed, Luke. For some reason, people think that these are better, cleaner...

[Stephanie Brim]

I...uh...wouldn't know. I think Iowa has finally hit its stride as to farmer's market produce and I don't really have to worry about it anymore. Yeah, the local heirlooms are $6 per pound, but it serves me right for not planting a garden this year.

Tonight for dinner: heirlooms and pasta with zucchini and garlic cream sauce.

[Pierogi]

Really any of the summer stone fruits (peaches, nectarines, plums) but the worst of the lot is apricots. You get two options...bitter and mealy or tasteless and mealy. I can't remember the last time I tasted a good apricot.

[Beebs]

Red Delicious apples. Ick.

Lovely to look at, tastes like cotton wool.

[emilyr]

I...uh...wouldn't know. I think Iowa has finally hit its stride as to farmer's market produce and I don't really have to worry about it anymore. Yeah, the local heirlooms are $6 per pound, but it serves me right for not planting a garden this year.

Tonight for dinner: heirlooms and pasta with zucchini and garlic cream sauce.

Holy Cow! $6/lb. You should just drive down to Missouri. I haven't seen them for more than $3 or 4 around here.

I nominate bananas. I usually just wait until the skin is almost completely brown before I eat one, or else I just get a mouthful of vaguely sweet starch.

[Stephanie Brim]

Well, I went to the local coop for the tomatoes. The zucchini was a farmer's market find.

Anyway, I do have complaints.

I live in a small town. You'd think that, with farms all around (and some of them growing things other than field corn and soy beans) the local stores would be able to source a lot more local vegetables and fruits come late summer. Not the case. Not at all. Most of it is brought in from other states, spending a couple days on a truck, and then comes to us less than fresh. I go 40+ miles to the 'local coop' to get my good stuff and thank them profusely by paying quite a bit more than I'd pay anywhere else for things I should be able to get cheaper and fresher. Sometimes, anyway.

But I have two kids. Seriously, those $6 tomatoes, to be eaten tonight with Manwiches and mac, will probably be the best ones I eat this year. I can't really afford to be buying them again.

The worst offenders for me: broccoli, any form of squash, tomatoes, potatoes, green beans, snow peas, and fresh herbs. None of these 'fresh' items are really that fresh when they hit here. You should see the green beans. They're scary. Thin, stringy, and a very strange shade of green. Not exactly appetizing. I went into the store once recently to buy broccoli and it was limp. Really. It just makes me want to cry. I love vegetables. I could be a vegetarian if I could somehow rid myself of the love of pork I've grown up with (hello, Iowa). What the stores are selling, especially in the winter, are not vegetables. They're selling something with the same shape, and maybe even the same look, but the texture and the flavor are almost always off.

[David A. Goldfarb]

Red Delicious apples. Ick.

Lovely to look at, tastes like cotton wool.

My thoughts exactly.

[Shamanjoe]

I have to agree with the tomatos. Even the most pathetic ones from my garden taste far superior to any store-bought ones. I don't even use fresh tomatos to make pasta sauce anymore unless I grow them myself, because the canned ones are much fresher.

[Chris Amirault]

I haven't bought a red delicious in a store since I ate one off a tree two years ago. Like strawberries, peas, and other produce, store versions might as well be called something completely different, since they are.

Stephanie, I was surprised to see broccoli on your list. I can usually get stuff that's comparable to farmer's market quality, not limp at all. Surely yours isn't as bad as sawdust apples?!?

[jmolinari]

Non-grape tomatoes... why even bother with them in supermarkets. Might as well eat styrofoam.

The Santa Sweets F1 hybrids are generally quite tasty though.

[Chris Amirault]

I agree. Usually, those Santas can sub in for a few things, as long as you're not trying to make concassé.

[Nikki Rose]

Conventionally grown tomatoes in the USA top the list. Even during the height of the season, they taste like zip. The only solution is farmers' markets if at all possible (and supporting those farmers). When I first moved to Crete and my organic farmer-friends gave me loads of tomatoes, zucchini and green beans, I was so surprised that they had flavor! I had forgotten what they are supposed to taste like. And they are from the New World! It's very unfortunate. Heirloom seeds-varieties are hard to come by in the US today. Tragic...for many reasons. One more unappetizing tidbit is the pesticide levels. For info on that pesky issue, see the Environmental Working Group's Shopper's Guide. When in doubt, try wine (for the cook and the sauce)!

[Moopheus]

You'd think that, with farms all around (and some of them growing things other than field corn and soy beans) the local stores would be able to source a lot more local vegetables and fruits come late summer. Not the case. Not at all. Most of it is brought in from other states, spending a couple days on a truck, and then comes to us less than fresh. I go 40+ miles to the 'local coop' to get my good stuff and thank them profusely by paying quite a bit more than I'd pay anywhere else for things I should be able to get cheaper and fresher. Sometimes, anyway.

This doesn't surprise me in the least. Around here, the big supermarkets almost never have any kind of local produce, no matter what time of year or what it is. Got to go to a farmer's market or a farm stand, or one of the few real produce markets. while I have mixed feelings about shopping there for various reasons, I have to give Whole Foods some credit: they do actually stock local (or at least regional, meaning New England) produce and food products. This year we joined a CSA farm.

But I would have to agree on tomatoes and strawberries as the worst. Most of the trucked-in stuff is weak, and cultivated more for appearance and travel than taste and ripeness. But the tomatoes and berries are the worst. Though last week I got a quart of strawberries from Canada (!) that were really quite good.

Edited August 11, 2010 by Moopheus (log)

[ScottyBoy]

+1 on tomatoes and strawberries.

[emannths]

This doesn't surprise me in the least. Around here, the big supermarkets almost never have any kind of local produce, no matter what time of year or what it is. Got to go to a farmer's market or a farm stand, or one of the few real produce markets. while I have mixed feelings about shopping there for various reasons, I have to give Whole Foods some credit: they do actually stock local (or at least regional, meaning New England) produce and food products. This year we joined a CSA farm.

But I would have to agree on tomatoes and strawberries as the worst. Most of the trucked-in stuff is weak, and cultivated more for appearance and travel than taste and ripeness. But the tomatoes and berries are the worst. Though last week I got a quart of strawberries from Canada (!) that were really quite good.

Around Cambridge, I've noticed that Market Basket (in Somerville) stocks a number of Massachusetts-grown vegetables. I don't remember everything, but many of the winter squash, zucchini, collards, kale, and similar items are labeled as from Massachusetts. They've also got potatoes from Maine, but that's like getting excited about Idaho potatoes in Washington. Even Shaw's (in Porter Square at least) stocks things like zucchini from MA sometimes. Neither are great with local fruit though.

I'll echo the tomato complaint. I've switched to plum tomatoes, which are at least still slice-able without being as offensive as the grocery store beefsteaks.

Peaches bother me the most though, because sometimes (almost all the time?) they even start to smell like peaches, but then manage to rot before turning sweet. At least I have no expectations from tomatoes. But a peach will sit on the counter, smelling like a peach, only to start growing mold before softening up.

I don't have many complaints about strawberries or damson plums (other plums seems to be less successful), though I rarely buy them out of "season."

[Pierogi]

...Peaches bother me the most though, because sometimes (almost all the time?) they even start to smell like peaches, but then manage to rot before turning sweet. At least I have no expectations from tomatoes. But a peach will sit on the counter, smelling like a peach, only to start growing mold before softening up.

...

Oh, that just makes me nuts ! I think I get one decent peach and one decent nectarine per summer. And then only when I hand carry them through the check-out/bagging process, so the twit bagger doesn't set the gallon of bleach or 5 pound sack of potatoes on top of the peaches to give them the bruises that start the rot....

It simply amazes me how peaches can go from hard enough to use in a Dodger game to rotten over night. But only after enticing me with that lovely aroma first.

[Shamanjoe]

I've never found a decent pluot in the stores. They can be so very good if they're fresh off the tree, but not from the store.

[CKatCook]

Now that I have planted a garden and tasted fresh home grown veg I have a hard time eating a lot of the stuff that is in the grocery stores. But nothing is worse than a red delicious apple. I lived in Washington State and KNOW what they are suppose to taste like and I don't even try to buy them. I think store bought green beans come next. When I finally got mine out of the garden it had this wonderful floral almost banana smell to it and taste incredible. I am spoiled now for them out of the garden.

[cbread]

First choice for industrial garbage food at the supermarket - tomatoes. I haven't wasted my time on a regular store bought from the big tomato bin for years.

Second choice? Maybe green beans. They always need so much cooking that they lose almost all character.

[Stephanie Brim]

I haven't bought a red delicious in a store since I ate one off a tree two years ago. Like strawberries, peas, and other produce, store versions might as well be called something completely different, since they are.

Stephanie, I was surprised to see broccoli on your list. I can usually get stuff that's comparable to farmer's market quality, not limp at all. Surely yours isn't as bad as sawdust apples?!?

Oh, I agree about the apples. But, yes, the broccoli is bad. I buy frozen all year round because of it. It sucks. I love fresh broccoli.

Next year we'll be growing a lot of the things that we can't get here reliably (including fennel, leeks, arugula, fresh shell peas), and broccoli is on the list of things. The green beans are the real offender, though. We tried some a few days ago with roast chicken. They were almost inedible. My daughter, being the lover of green beans she is, ate them anyway, as did I. I don't plan on buying them again, however.

One thing that surprises me constantly is that the Missouri peaches that we get always seem to be very, very tasty. Almost always bruised somewhat thanks to the produce people not taking enough care, but I can't fault the flavor.

Oh, and one other thing that is always impressive: the honeycrisp apples. Almost always have great flavor. They just also have a huge price tag. I get about three per year of my favorite apple because $1.50 per medium apple is a little...steep.

Oh, and about strawberries: I find that the only store brand worth eating is Driscolls, which we get in the higher-end grocery store in town from mid-May through September. Usually. They're generally reasonably priced as well, but I guess that weather has been a factor this year. The price is almost $4 per pound.

Edited August 23, 2010 by Stephanie Brim (log)