Why do organic plums taste so good?

[Veronica]

And organic celery?!

I swear celery had no taste when I was a kid.

A coworker turned me on to an organic fruit and veggie delivery service. I am actually eating fruit and vegetables again.

Veronica

[Susan Otcenas]

Because they are actually FRUIT, as opposed to fruit-shaped objects.

[OakLeaf]

I'm all for organic, if for no other reason than to stop poisoning farmworkers fercryinoutloud ... but to be fair, I think the difference in flavor is between fresh and local vs. grocery store, not between organic and what I refuse to call conventional since it changes every year.

[Owlie]

My guess is that the plants are under more stress than ones grown conventionally, so they produce more anti-pest compounds that we interpret as flavor. (Who decided to eat veggies anyway?!) The theory holds for leaves and stems, anyway. Maybe it works on fruit too.

I've only recently come around to eating cucumber. I wouldn't touch it for years. I wish we could easily get organic produce around here. If I want more than my local supermarkets' limited selection, I have to make a 20-mile round-trip.

[Veronica]

This service is pretty cool. You can get a delivery of only locally grown things - local as in 40ish miles from my house. I can also see what's in each different type of box and they tell you where things are coming from. I'm sure I could get the same stuff at a Farmer's Market, but I'll never go.

Since for the last few years I've been anti fruit and I've never really like veggies, we're currently getting something called fast fruit and veggie. The fruit is good enough that it satisfies my urge for something sweet after dinner.

Veronica

[Veronica]

(Who decided to eat veggies anyway?!)

I've always wondered who ate the first artichoke. C'mon, there's got to be something edible in this thing somewhere!

Veronica

[OakLeaf]

Artichokes you can at least see that they started on the leaves and were extra gratified when they got to the heart.

Olives? All the processing it takes to get them even close to edible? I guess someone hungry found a pile of them bruised and partially fermented under the tree, and figured out they had to do that on purpose to the ones that hadn't fallen naturally???

[Owlie]

Garlic, onions, and chile peppers are the ones I don't get. "Hm, this looks like it might be good to eat" [chomp] "AUGH!!! It BURNS! IT BURNS!!! Let's eat more of it!"

Clearly our ancestors were masters of the use of multiple exclamation points.

[malkin]

While we're on the subject, who figured out coffee?


I have a plum tree that is as organic as the day is long, but the fruit tastes like Puh!

I'm going to try Raleigh Don's non-recipe for plum stuff to see if it makes something tasty.

[GLC1968]

Actually, it's likely not 'organic' vs 'non-organic' that produces the best flavor but the variety of the produce. If you grow the same mass-produced varieties of fruits and veggies (the ones engineered because they are disease resistant, travel well, high yield, ripen appropriately for mass production, etc), then yours will taste an awful lot like the ones you buy from the grocery store.

If you grow or buy from a farmer, varieties that haven't been engineered to death, they will taste about 1000 times better. That's why heirloom tomatoes taste like an entirely different species than the big boys from the grocery store.

We have 5 varieties of plums in our yard. Some are delicious, some suck for eating but make great prunes and others are best left to the birds (literally). There used to be 1000's of different varieties of apples grown (and easily available) in the US...now there are like less than 50 different varieties commercially grown. Same for broccoli. Did you know that 95% of all broccoli grown commercially in the US is the exact same variety? It's insane from a sustainability, long term health and production point of view. Not to mention, some of those other varieties just plain taste better!!

[Veronica]

This week I am getting lemon cucumber. I've never heard of such thing.

And lots of tomatoes!

Veronica

[bmccasland]

This week I am getting lemon cucumber. I've never heard of such thing.

And lots of tomatoes!

Veronica

OOOH, lemon cucumber - I used to get it when I lived in NoCal. Yum!

I hit two different farmer's markets last week - checking them out. Pretty much the same sellers, which I expected since the market days were different. After being in France, I was saddened to see that no one was selling meat, poultry, eggs, or dairy products. A colleague told me about a Sunday market that's full venue, so I'll try that one next.

[OakLeaf]

Around here there's very little animal product at the farmers' markets - most of the local pastured meat, dairy and eggs are sold either at natural food stores or from small producers' doorstep (keep your eye out for signs on your rides). In the "big city" there's a central market with a butcher that sells some local meats. If there's an Amish or Mennonite community in your area, it's probably worth a ride to check out the farm stands now and then.

In the winter we belong to a CSA that gets pastured meat and dairy from not too far away, and even though we normally opt for vegetables only in our weekly basket, they can order extra meat if we let them know ahead that we want some.

[Eden]

Really? The weekly one over here (Central District) usually has at least one guy who has beef and lamb, several fish sellers, and I think maybe one who did poultry - but I can't remember.... They have a big deli style case, but I can't for the life of me remember exactly what was in it.... I don't recall anyone with eggs though. The weekend one in West Seattle definitely had meat and poultry the time I went last year.

[lovelygamer]

Garlic, onions, and chile peppers are the ones I don't get. "Hm, this looks like it might be good to eat" [chomp] "AUGH!!! It BURNS! IT BURNS!!! Let's eat more of it!"

Clearly our ancestors were masters of the use of multiple exclamation points.

Hysterical!