I mean, we're not optimising for taste or nutrition. We're barely even optimising for cost these days. We're optimising for length of time the produce looks go

I mean, we're not optimising for taste or nutrition. We're barely even optimising for cost these days. We're optimising for length of time the produce looks good on a supermarket shelf after travelling halfway around the world in a container ship. All other concerns get thrown under the bus. The really insidious aspect of this, though, is that this isn't the result of some deliberate plot; supermarkets sell what people will most buy. If enough people switch to buying tasty nutritious misshapen local in-season produce instead of the tasteless bland cheap good-looking year-round stuff, we'll see more of that. Time and time again, though, we all vote with our wallets for beautiful insipid gratification, and so that is what we get.