6 ms·

Well, who here buys their vegetables based on nutrition? Who even knows how nutritious their particular vegetables are (probably not if you have a lab)? Compan

Well, who here buys their vegetables based on nutrition? Who even knows how nutritious their particular vegetables are (probably not if you have a lab)? Companies optimize for what customers will pay for, and everything else falls by the wayside.

taneq 6y ago
When a measure becomes a target, it ceases to be a good measure. Always.
camhart 6y ago
Strawberries in the USA are huge. Sometimes they remind me of an Apple. Go to Denmark--they're small but packed full of flavor. I would much rather have the smaller ones. I wonder if the large, crisp, apple-esc strawberries really sell better. They're certainly bigger.
- markdown 6y ago
  I feel the same about hydroponically grown tomatoes. They're just bigs bags of barely flavoured water.
  - riffraff 6y ago
    AFAIU that depends on the nutrients added to the water. You could have good tasting hydroponically grown tomatoes, but nobody cares.
- Thlom 6y ago
  Best strawberries in the world are found in a small valley on the west coast of Norway where the combination of late summer, cool nights and long summer days with lots of sunlight makes for a long ripening process and perfect strawberries.
  - fogihujy 6y ago
    Finnish strawberries are clearly superior! ;) Jokes aside, my personal experience is that strawberries grown in some grandmother's garden in a Nordic country, including Denmark, will beat the mass-produced stuff in the stores when it comes to taste. I can't imagine the same wouldn't apply to Canadian or Russian strawberries, grown under similar conditions, as well.
- yesenadam 6y ago
  In Paris in 1985 (only time I've been there) you could buy massive strawberries from street stalls by the kilo, the size of a small apple, cheap, and super-delicious. I don't know where they came from or why I've never seen them here in Australia. Apart from that, I had delicious small homegrown ones as a kid, and the occasional almost or totally tasteless medium-sized ones from shops ever since. I always wonder how it feels to be a farmer growing totally tasteless strawberries for a living.
  - nobodyandproud 6y ago
    > I always wonder how it feels to be a farmer growing totally tasteless strawberries for a living. I imagine it’s a bland but fruitful experience.
- tzot 6y ago
  I remember a joke from my childhood, where an American tourist is browsing a local farmer's market commenting how small everything is compared to American produce, so when the tourist sees watermelons and asks “and what are these?”, the annoyed vendor just says “oh, they're just peas”.
- pvaldes 6y ago
  > Strawberries in the USA are huge Plant hormones added
stinos 6y ago
Companies optimize for what customers will pay for Could be, but arent't there other mechanisms? Like companies optimizing for profit, then using advertisement to lure customers in paying for it?
taurath 6y ago
In the US, companies optimize for what they can industrialize and ship out to an entire country regardless of locality. And customers want is changing pretty quickly. But for me, the “standard” grocery store produce aisle hasn’t changed much at all in the last few decades - mostly just organics that again are optimized for national supply chains and away from taste.
kleiba 6y ago
In a way, I would say I do - but not to a point where I buy completely untasty stuff just for the nutritional value. But I love it when I see, say, a beautiful cauliflower that looks fresh and tasty not only because I'm looking forward to the pleasure of tasting it but also because somewhere in the back of my head something tells me "that's good stuff". However, of course I'm just assuming that something is actually nutritious. You're right that I don't actually know that, and that kinda is the point of the article, right? We have all been taught that veggies are good for you, bla bla bla, but in the light of the article you can now at least wonder to what degree that is still as true as it was some years ago.
trevyn 6y ago
>Well, who here buys their vegetables based on nutrition? I would never buy vegetables if they weren’t important for nutrition.
- MattGaiser 6y ago
  Yes, but can you determine the nutritional differences between carrot 1 and carrot 2?
  - trevyn 6y ago
    I’m not sure anyone can, even with a lab. I think the metabolic and behavioral impact of many plant molecules is completely unclear at this point. We know what simple micronutrients are necessary to prevent obvious deficiency disorders, and you can take those in a pill today, but there are many more subtle disorders. There’s a reason doctors suggest fresh fruits and vegetables, instead of inventing a multivitamin and psyllium husk supplement to replace vegetables.
BMSmnqXAE4yfe1 6y ago
I always smell tomatoes in the supermarket. People hate me.

taneq 6y ago

When a measure becomes a target, it ceases to be a good measure. Always.

camhart 6y ago

Strawberries in the USA are huge. Sometimes they remind me of an Apple. Go to Denmark--they're small but packed full of flavor. I would much rather have the smaller ones. I wonder if the large, crisp, apple-esc strawberries really sell better. They're certainly bigger.

markdown 6y ago
I feel the same about hydroponically grown tomatoes. They're just bigs bags of barely flavoured water.
- riffraff 6y ago
  AFAIU that depends on the nutrients added to the water. You could have good tasting hydroponically grown tomatoes, but nobody cares.
Thlom 6y ago
Best strawberries in the world are found in a small valley on the west coast of Norway where the combination of late summer, cool nights and long summer days with lots of sunlight makes for a long ripening process and perfect strawberries.
- fogihujy 6y ago
  Finnish strawberries are clearly superior! ;) Jokes aside, my personal experience is that strawberries grown in some grandmother's garden in a Nordic country, including Denmark, will beat the mass-produced stuff in the stores when it comes to taste. I can't imagine the same wouldn't apply to Canadian or Russian strawberries, grown under similar conditions, as well.
yesenadam 6y ago
In Paris in 1985 (only time I've been there) you could buy massive strawberries from street stalls by the kilo, the size of a small apple, cheap, and super-delicious. I don't know where they came from or why I've never seen them here in Australia. Apart from that, I had delicious small homegrown ones as a kid, and the occasional almost or totally tasteless medium-sized ones from shops ever since. I always wonder how it feels to be a farmer growing totally tasteless strawberries for a living.
- nobodyandproud 6y ago
  > I always wonder how it feels to be a farmer growing totally tasteless strawberries for a living. I imagine it’s a bland but fruitful experience.
tzot 6y ago
I remember a joke from my childhood, where an American tourist is browsing a local farmer's market commenting how small everything is compared to American produce, so when the tourist sees watermelons and asks “and what are these?”, the annoyed vendor just says “oh, they're just peas”.
pvaldes 6y ago
> Strawberries in the USA are huge Plant hormones added

stinos 6y ago

Companies optimize for what customers will pay for Could be, but arent't there other mechanisms? Like companies optimizing for profit, then using advertisement to lure customers in paying for it?

taurath 6y ago

In the US, companies optimize for what they can industrialize and ship out to an entire country regardless of locality. And customers want is changing pretty quickly. But for me, the “standard” grocery store produce aisle hasn’t changed much at all in the last few decades - mostly just organics that again are optimized for national supply chains and away from taste.

kleiba 6y ago

In a way, I would say I do - but not to a point where I buy completely untasty stuff just for the nutritional value. But I love it when I see, say, a beautiful cauliflower that looks fresh and tasty not only because I'm looking forward to the pleasure of tasting it but also because somewhere in the back of my head something tells me "that's good stuff". However, of course I'm just assuming that something is actually nutritious. You're right that I don't actually know that, and that kinda is the point of the article, right? We have all been taught that veggies are good for you, bla bla bla, but in the light of the article you can now at least wonder to what degree that is still as true as it was some years ago.

trevyn 6y ago

>Well, who here buys their vegetables based on nutrition? I would never buy vegetables if they weren’t important for nutrition.

MattGaiser 6y ago
Yes, but can you determine the nutritional differences between carrot 1 and carrot 2?
- trevyn 6y ago
  I’m not sure anyone can, even with a lab. I think the metabolic and behavioral impact of many plant molecules is completely unclear at this point. We know what simple micronutrients are necessary to prevent obvious deficiency disorders, and you can take those in a pill today, but there are many more subtle disorders. There’s a reason doctors suggest fresh fruits and vegetables, instead of inventing a multivitamin and psyllium husk supplement to replace vegetables.

BMSmnqXAE4yfe1 6y ago

I always smell tomatoes in the supermarket. People hate me.