Fruits nowadays.

I usually get nostalgic when I eat fruits or vegetables and starts remembering the days when my parents used to have their own garden. Fruits and vegetables grown there are of tremendous taste and I used to enjoy eating them. In those days vegetables and fruits from market were of indescribable taste too. I used to eat vegetables without cooking them. Tomatoes were my favorite but nowadays I avoid them, even in salad. Tomatoes are the most notorious of tasteless foods. They are picked green and shipped long distances, often in big open trucks, and then refrigerated, which destroys their flavor and texture. They are hybridized for firmness and color so they hold up when shipped and look attractive on the shelf. Sales appeal matters more than taste.

Fruits are the most delightful of foods. They are also of great nutritional value because they possess most of the essential minerals and vitamins necessary for optimal health. Since the average diet is too high in protein, adding fruit to the diet is beneficial. A fruit diet is “cleansing” because it is lower in protein. This result in the cells drawing upon the body’s store of nutritional reserves, and initiating the elimination of the accumulated wastes and poisons, much of which are the by-products of the over-consumption of protein. The fruit, though, is not itself cleansing; it merely causes less burdening of the body than most food, and allows the body to do its own “cleansing.” Claims are made that certain fruits have “curative” or “magical” properties—that such fruits as apples, apricots, papayas or grapes will “cure” what ails you.

The trouble with many fruits available today is that they are picked while still immature and thus never have a chance to develop properly to their full potential of taste and nutritional value. The season for marketing fruit has been overextended, and out-of-season, expensive and tasteless fruit is often available. Unfortunately, most fruits are grown in soil that is fed chemicals to increase productivity, and the fruit is sprayed with chemical pesticides. Some opt to use local sewage water to irrigate their land, which is nothing less than harmful. Negative outcomes include: neurological, cancer, birth defects, fetal death, and neurodevelopmental disorder.

Consider buying organic fruits and veg. The term “organic” means plant crops have been grown without chemical pesticides or fertilizers or genetic modifications. Organic food is generally more expensive than non-organic food. Whenever possible, buy fruit from the farmer—you may get fruit almost as good as you could grow yourself. You might even be fortunate enough to find a local organic fruit farmer. Most people are dependent on markets for most of their fruit. It is necessary to cultivate the ability to judge the ripeness and quality of the fruit you buy.

Fruit is most luscious if it is picked from the tree when it is just at the peak of its ripeness. Wherever you live, try to have and nurture some of your own fruit trees. No store-bought fruit can approach freshly picked ripe fruit for flavor and quality.

This will get you the Quality and taste of fruit and vegetables - back to 10 or 20 years ago.