WHY DOES SO MUCH FRUIT THESE DAYS HAVE NO TASTE?
AH, perhaps you’re already wrestling with this title as a metaphor for writing or authorship? Nope. I am an author, but I mean the question quite literally. It’s a contemporary question up there with how come so many drivers ignore the speed limit on freeways, and how come things AI-digital increasingly seem to take more time and effort than human face-to-face? But I digress…
You must admit (if COVID hasn’t damaged your olfactory system) that many foods, but especially fruits, today lack flavor and with all due deference to the five classic “tastes,” both sweetness and umami. Actually I wouldn’t have know it had I not tasted “real” fruit in Japan where an apple tastes like a mouthwatering apple, and eating a fresh peach is pure ecstasy. I assume it’s all part of the denaturalization of things organic, from being what they actually are to being simply “food.” Protein. Energy. Think “Soyalent Green.” Add to that contemporary dis-integration, in this case, of the “food distribution and delivery system,” where it takes so long to move fruit from the tree to the millions of hungry urban mouthes, that fruit is simply picked “green” well before it can ripen and acquire a decent sugar content. Add to that, that it’s decidedly “uncool” to sample the fruit before you buy it; hence, consumers only have appearance to rely on. Add to that, that while the USA has some of the strictest food quality laws anywhere, much of our fruit, especially outside of summer, comes from other countries which may or may not have ANY food quality laws or restrictions. And add to that the increasing emphasis on use of pesticides and GMO (where the food produces it’s own pesticides) and I suspect that’s the answer. But it’s only an answer, not a solution. I mean, after all, should fruit have taste? It’s a secondary, very American question. And if it should — and I believe so — then how to reconstruct our “food system” to emphasize quality over mere quantity? Or, in a broader sense, how to reconstruct our society to emphasize quality and service, over quantity and products sales.
I has to begin with consumers, of that I feel certain. Think “organic” food. The food business might be so dehumanized that it no longer places quality and taste over quantity, appearance and cost, but it does ultimately respond to consumer demand. The problem is that consumers appear in “generations,” and it’s not so unusual for one generation to “forget” the experiences and values of previous ones. To youth, whatever he or she experiences in this world is the “norm” and without reference, a society driven by money and power can quickly lose it’s way.
If all this seems too existential, think about the most recent piece of fruit you’ve eaten, be it a cantaloupe or tomato (yes, tomatoes are actually fruit), plum or apricot, cucumber (another veggie that’s actually a fruit) or apple. Did it fill your nostrils and mouth with richness and anticipation? Or was it more like eating crispy cardboard?
In my Amazon Genre Bestseller, THE EDGE OF MADNESS (Aignos 2020) by Raymond Gaynor (https://www.amazon.com/dp/0999693859), I address this “problem,” and actually offer a rather clever and unique solution. Haven’t had a good fruit in a while? Try going boldly to THE EDGE OF MADNESS!
The Edge of Madness
Video Book Preview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Je6CC...
You must admit (if COVID hasn’t damaged your olfactory system) that many foods, but especially fruits, today lack flavor and with all due deference to the five classic “tastes,” both sweetness and umami. Actually I wouldn’t have know it had I not tasted “real” fruit in Japan where an apple tastes like a mouthwatering apple, and eating a fresh peach is pure ecstasy. I assume it’s all part of the denaturalization of things organic, from being what they actually are to being simply “food.” Protein. Energy. Think “Soyalent Green.” Add to that contemporary dis-integration, in this case, of the “food distribution and delivery system,” where it takes so long to move fruit from the tree to the millions of hungry urban mouthes, that fruit is simply picked “green” well before it can ripen and acquire a decent sugar content. Add to that, that it’s decidedly “uncool” to sample the fruit before you buy it; hence, consumers only have appearance to rely on. Add to that, that while the USA has some of the strictest food quality laws anywhere, much of our fruit, especially outside of summer, comes from other countries which may or may not have ANY food quality laws or restrictions. And add to that the increasing emphasis on use of pesticides and GMO (where the food produces it’s own pesticides) and I suspect that’s the answer. But it’s only an answer, not a solution. I mean, after all, should fruit have taste? It’s a secondary, very American question. And if it should — and I believe so — then how to reconstruct our “food system” to emphasize quality over mere quantity? Or, in a broader sense, how to reconstruct our society to emphasize quality and service, over quantity and products sales.
I has to begin with consumers, of that I feel certain. Think “organic” food. The food business might be so dehumanized that it no longer places quality and taste over quantity, appearance and cost, but it does ultimately respond to consumer demand. The problem is that consumers appear in “generations,” and it’s not so unusual for one generation to “forget” the experiences and values of previous ones. To youth, whatever he or she experiences in this world is the “norm” and without reference, a society driven by money and power can quickly lose it’s way.
If all this seems too existential, think about the most recent piece of fruit you’ve eaten, be it a cantaloupe or tomato (yes, tomatoes are actually fruit), plum or apricot, cucumber (another veggie that’s actually a fruit) or apple. Did it fill your nostrils and mouth with richness and anticipation? Or was it more like eating crispy cardboard?
In my Amazon Genre Bestseller, THE EDGE OF MADNESS (Aignos 2020) by Raymond Gaynor (https://www.amazon.com/dp/0999693859), I address this “problem,” and actually offer a rather clever and unique solution. Haven’t had a good fruit in a while? Try going boldly to THE EDGE OF MADNESS!
The Edge of Madness
Video Book Preview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Je6CC...
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