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You are absolutely right, but that visual quality comes at a huge cost in other areas. For example, I find tomatoes in the US disgusting (and don’t tell me “oh,
by wyager 9y ago
You are absolutely right, but that visual quality comes at a huge cost in other areas. For example, I find tomatoes in the US disgusting (and don’t tell me “oh, you need to try fresh/cherry/whatever tomatoes”, I have). They look good but taste horrible. They’ve been bred for looks and weight, not flavor.
In many places outside the US, the tomato breeds there are bred for flavor, not looks. They’re uglier, but they have a vastly higher sugar/fat/whatever content and taste much better.
https://www.vox.com/2016/2/12/10972140/fruits-vegetables-taste-better-europe https://www.vox.com/2016/2/12/10972140/fruits-vegetables-tas...
- pcurve 9y ago"They’ve been bred for looks and weight, not flavor." Yes, and cost-effective long-haul transport-ability and long shelf-life.
- astura 9y agoIt's well known that tomatoes you buy in the store in the US are pure garbage, even among Americans. I live in the Northeast. Around here practically every single person plants tomatoes if they have a backyard, even if they never plant any other vegetables ever. Chatting about how your tomatoes are doing and what type of tomatoes you are growing is a classic pasttime around these parts. Of course the reason is there's nothing you can buy in the store that tastes like what you plant in your yard. I know quite a few people who don't like store tomatoes but like home-grown tomatoes.
- pcurve 9y agoI'm in Northeast too I'm going to miss my backyard cherry tomato until next year. It's quite fun being able to control acidity, sweetness, texture depending on when you pick them off vine.
- Broken_Hippo 9y agoTo be fair, the gross tomoato issue isn't just the US. I am from Indiana, where summer tomatoes from farmer markets (or a backyard) were wonderful. Grocery store tomatoes were foamy, tasteless things. I'm in Norway now. Same issue, only I've never found yummy summer tomatoes.
- Symbiote 9y agoYeah, but Norway is north of the USA. It's not possible to have local tomatoes, so ones optimised for transport should be expected. Many US states should be able to grow tomatoes like they do in Italy.
- pq0ak2nnd 9y agohere's an exception to that rule: san marzanos are pretty cute and they're IMHO the best tasting tomato, and they look the same in Gabicce Mare or in Sacramento.