To think the fruit & veg we buy, is bland?

[SukiTheDog]

I bought some Cox’s apples yesterday at a well known supermarket. Although I eat plenty of fruit, I’m not keen on apples but Cox’s were always a firm favourite of mine. We used to live close to an orchard and they were wonderful apples, if a little misshapen at times. I’ve just washed them and had one. It tasted of .... nothing. No sweetness, no flavour. Nowt. Apart from the texture, I could have been eating any of the tasteless varieties of apple, filling our shelves now.

What’s happening to our food, seriously? It’s all so bland and nondescript. I think tomatoes have gone the same way. They look like a tomato and feel like a tomato but frankly, there’s no tomato-iness anymore. You need a ton of salt on it to have it taste of anything?

What’s going on?

You're right OP, I live abroad and find when I go back to the UK the fruit and veg looks beautiful but tastes of well, nothing. Here, everything is wonky and you have to wash it first but it's cheap, delicious and sweet.

Yep. I didn’t really notice until I bought some strawberries from our local greengrocer & they actually tasted of strawberries. I’ve stopped buying from supermarkets ever since & have had lots of compliments on my (truly mediocre) cooking since.

If it's out of season or has travelled 100s of miles (like your apples) then yes they will be gross.

I think M and S has the best fruit and veg. But it is pricey.

We got an allotment last year. The taste is amazing and very different on everything even lettuce!

My SIL had tea at my mums the other week and had some of the freezer stash of runner beans. She raved about the difference in flavour and thats after about 6 months in the freezer!

Another Brit abroad here who prefers the fruit and veg. Tip is to only buy stuff in season.

Aren't Cox's in season in September/October? Probably why they taste crap in march...

Cox apples are only good in October/November as they don't keep well.

Oops cross posted with haba.

Buy stuff in season and grow your own.

I remember fruit being delicious when I was little. I’d come home from school and there would be a bowl of peaches (or whatever) from the green grocers and we would devour them because they were so ripe and juicy.

I nearly always find fruit tasteless nowadays and I get most of mine from a local produce grower. Well, no that’s not entirely fair as the apples are great and the blood oranges too.

Fruit and veg is generally disappointing in the UK though.

I wonder if Brexit will result in flavoursome misshapen fruit rather than flown in EU bland fruit?

Tomatoes outrage me. So hard to get ones that have an actual taste and I love nice tomatoes

I read somewhere before that food from Asian and Polish supermarkets is much fresher and loads tastier as its imported pretty much immediately, whereas some fruit in supermarkets have been sat in a warehouse for up to a year (a long time, anyway!) I don’t have one locally but there’s a Multi Culti half an hour away and I’ve been dying to get in there for ages!

I wonder if Brexit will result in flavoursome misshapen fruit rather than flown in EU bland fruit?

I think it'll herald a massive rise n pick your own...

Does everyone keep all their fruit anD veg in the fridge these days as i think that would affect flavour? I keep as much as i can at room temperature - particularly tomatoes, and always buy vine ones. The vines do make the tomatoes taste better. I think organic carrots taste better than non organic ones as well.

Small local veg shops also wont store their stock with as much refridgeration - per haps this is why tgey taste better?

I am another who got an allotment a few years ago and the difference in taste is utterly astonishing.
My plot is alongside a busy road and pavement (but 10 foot high railings) and a LOT of people have asked me if they can buy produce from me. Selling is not allowed of course but I have often given some stuff away if I have a glut.

Okay so, now I’m on a mission to firstly find a local greengrocer and to only buy in season. I remember when I was a little girl, our grocer would tell customers what would be in and when. There was much excitement over tangerines before Christmas and new potatoes.

I wonder about the nutritional value of what we’re buying. An apple that’s been “on hold” for 4 months etc. And I agree, those bloody awful “ripens in the fruit bowl” fruits are never fit to eat.

I’m really cross that we the consumer, are meant to pay for overpriced and low grade produce. Who’s big idea was that?

😡 Whose

The shit fruit and veg was one of the first things I noticed when I was in the UK. Pink lady apples were fine, grapes were fine, but everything else was quite grim.

I'm in Australia and try to buy from the markets, primarily to support local produce, but fruit and veg in the supermarkets is very good also. Of course, the majority of things are grown in Australia and much of it (not all - mangoes, peaches etc. are a spring/summer thing) can be grown year round.

We’re incredibly fortunate that we live in the fens and are surrounded by potatoes , carrots , Brussels , swede , onions , cabbages , all sorts of vegetables , and DH also works for a produce delivery company , and buys directly from the suppliers as well as they charge him trade rates , so we don’t buy much from supermarkets . We also have three apple trees , my neighbours have plum trees and apricots , and there are various garden gate stalls throughout the summer , so we do really quite well .

The one thing I have noticed that taste really bland when I’ve had to buy emergency veg ( halfway through cooking a roast usually ) , is potatoes . Now I’m not sure if that’s down to the type of potato - supermarket ones tend to be estima, Maris pipers or Picasso’s , whereas my farmer across the road grows Hunters or Saxons , which are gorgeous and really taste of something .

Coxes aren't as good a keep as some (some apples are still good to eat in March), but they are picked in October for use through to January. That said, there's a fair chance that a Cox you buy in the shop in January will actually be a New Zealand or wherever Cox and flown half way around the world, so it isn't going to have as much flavour.

Shop cucumbers are a real disappointment once you've grown your own. Radishes too. All water and no heat.

I find M&S fruit is better than anywhere else for fruit and veg (fruit especially). Also, try to buy in season, not easy in the Winter though!

I get a veggie box delivered and it’s lovely. Not much fruit though!

I think of my ancestors who must have eaten a lot of turnip and kraut in the winter