Sub-par taste in foods

[Gina]

The taste of various food has gotten noticeably bland over the years. It's disappointing. I remember when pork, beef, and poultry had much more, better flavor. And fruits and veggies... oh my goodness. The stuff in stores just doesn't have much taste at all.

I know veggies and meat production are a business, and there are a lot of people to feed at relatively low costs. So breeders are selecting what looks pretty, travels better during shipping and lasts longer on the shelf. Flavor seems to be the last thing they consider.

I grow many of my own veggies and they taste really good, so it's not my taste buds. And the difference in my own fruit compared to the stores is night/day. As are the eggs my friend gives me compared to store-bought. This last Thanksgiving I sought out a free-range organic turkey, and it was really good. It cost about 3 times what a generic turkey would have cost. But I can't afford to do that all the time.

Today as a special treat I was making some juice from some frozen raspberries I had purchased. They were not cheap. The resulting liquid was red, but verged on flavorless.

I don't know what the solution is, perhaps this is just a rant. :devil:

[flowerseverywhere]

The best solution is to buy organic and from the producer whenever you can, and grow or obtain as much home grown food as possible. Not only is this better tasting but chances are you will ingest far fewer chemicals used to kill weeds and bugs and fewer additives and processing. This is not always possible, so do the best you can.

Our current mode of eating is maybe 40 years old. I recently saw a lecture by Eric Schlosser who wrote "fast food nation" who explained at length the processing that our food undergoes. The push for food tasting the same, a la McDonalds, and as you noted growing vegetables and fruits that look good after shipping trump taste.

[Tiam]

Well I notice a huge difference in what I grow and what I buy. One leaf of a stunted cilantro plant has more flavor than an entire bunch of cilantro. Everything is much better. I haven't moved up to the extra expense of home raised organic meats.

[ApatheticNoMore]

I remember when pork, beef, and poultry had much more, better flavor.

With beef and pork this is partly due to everything having been bred to be low fat. Blah, what's the point of food without fat and therefore flavor? (Sure some low fat foods have flavor, but they are foods that are *naturally* low fat).

Yea I do struggle sometimes with the overall flavorlessness of everything. I do try to buy high quality food, cook for flavor, choose foods I like (that aren't bland to me like chicken is) etc.. And being hungry helps :) But yea, sometimes everything is bland.

By the way cilantro is one of the things I decided wasn't worth growing. It didn't seem to taste any different from that at the store (whole foods) which had perfectly adequate flavor (cilantro is not bland), and when I grew it it bolted really quickly even though it was planted early. I mean it was nice to have it around whenever I wanted to pick a sprig, but not really worth it. Maybe I'll try again some winter but not too enthused, but it did produce nice coriander seeds after it bolted.

[IshbelRobertson]

I have bought only organic meats for over 20 years, lots of it from traditional breeds of pig, beef, lamb and chicken - and they all taste wonderful, as they did in my memory of childhood meals. Interestingly, when I go to friends' houses to eat, I notice that most of the meats have that very blandness being discussed here.

[Rosemary]

Produce products (e.g. commercial strawberries) are bland because they plant varieties that are optimal for shipping, not flavor, and they often harvest before full ripeness.

Asparagus from our garden or the farmers' market is an entirely different vegetable than what is sold in supermarkets! - and I'm not even talking about the winter asparagus from Peru - I mean the spring, California asparagus.

We buy only free-range eggs, poultry and meats - which limits our consumption (due to availability and cost), supports our values of animal treatment and local foods, and provides us with very flavorful meals even with a very small quantity of animal-based products.

Organic milk smells and tastes different (better) from other commercial milk.

[pinkytoe]

I have noticed this too. I have been buying organic radishes but they are completely flavorless.

[Bootsie]

Yes, I've noticed. Disappointing, isn't it?

One exception is apples. I love the great variety of apples that are available and I've been happy with the quality of the apples in the grocery stores.

Counting the days for the farmers markets to open again....

[Gina]

I have noticed this too. I have been buying organic radishes but they are completely flavorless.
Yep.. It's not whether veggies are organic or not, it's the varieties producers (organic or non-organic) grow that have been selected for things besides flavor. It's not even a hybrid/heirloom issue. There are many good flavorful hybrid varieties developed over the years that are excellent. They just don't seem to be what growers are growing.

Another good example is sweet corn. In the stores these days about all they seem to sell are those horrid super sweet things that taste like sugar cane stems. If they grew some of the older varieties with better flavor, the ears would lose their sweetness too quickly. The current ears will remain sweet for a week. Ack. Sweet corn is one of the things to grow at home if possible.

I grow lots of veggies, and because I love gardening, I'll plant many extras and then sell the extra produce to friends. I could sell as much as I could produce and people are always asking if I have stuff. People are very grateful to get good homegrown, unsprayed, tasty, fresh things in good condition and at a reasonable price. I've had people tell me my blueberries are the best theyve ever tasted. I am not an organic gardener, but I do not spray or use any of the various 'cides.

Good fruit is findable here - but not in the grocery store, and not year round. As someone said, apples are one of the exceptions, though from the trees are probably better.

I guess what I miss most are the good-tasting meats. Yes, fat is an issue, but even the fatty cuts lack that good old-fashioned flavor. Alas here we have no local producers of meats that I know of other than one small turkey grower who charges $6/pound - a 15 pound bird would cost $90. I'm sure they are wonderful, but....

Our trader joe's carries 'organic' meats, but they are a crap-shoot because they are not always fresh. And they still don't have that good flavor.

Well, I guess not finding or spending the high prices to have flavorful meat is one of those trade-offs I have to make in order to not have to work. I do prefer to have my time. But I would like to have it all. grumble, grumble....

;)

[Rosemary]

Apples have flavor, but many of the new varieties are as sweet as candy, too.

[Spider In The Bath]

I have bought only organic meats for over 20 years, lots of it from traditional breeds of pig, beef, lamb and chicken - and they all taste wonderful, as they did in my memory of childhood meals. Interestingly, when I go to friends' houses to eat, I notice that most of the meats have that very blandness being discussed here.

We used to live across the road from an organic butchers. I am a vegi, but my husband is not. Whenever we bought his meat we both noticed that the quality of the meat was so much better than in other shops. These days meat is not hung properly before being sold and so the taste is not the same as it used to be. Also, a lot of food is produced to last longer on the shelf, but not to necessarily taste better.

[Stella]

I have defintely noticed the same thing. I too buy mostly from local producers. I notice it especially with milk. We buy milk directly from a small dairy and shortly after we started my 5 year old daughter began bringing a water bottle with her to school for milk break. I asked her why and she said that the milk at school just didn't taste as good as the milk at home.