What Fruits I Bought Last Week

Every week I go to my local fruit market. I may not eat 100% raw, but I eat more fruits than many so-called raw foodists. In fact, these days, I’m eating mostly fruits throughout the day. So I need a good selection of awesome fruits.

People complain that the fruit selection isn’t good enough in the winter, but in my experience, it’s a great time of the year to get fruits. The spring tends to be a bit sparser.

Here are some fruits I’ve been buying lately:

Mangoes

Believe it or not, I’m eating a lot of mangoes these days. They come from Brazil and are absolutely amazing. In the last few years, Brazil has become a major exporter of fruit, which is leading to better variety in the stores. Not so long ago I was eating mangoes from Israel that were also delicious. Both of these mangoes are expensive, so it’s worth it to get them by the case.

Vanilla Persimmons

This is an awesome type of persimmon. You can eat it hard like an apple, but they have the same shape as the regular persimmons (unlike the Fuyu persimmons). They come from Spain at this time of the year.

Grapes

Some excellent California grapes are in season.

Prickly Pears

Every time I get into prickly pears, I forget how amazing and underrated this fruit is. I get the kinds that are red inside, and buy a whole crate.

In the past, at the same time of year, I bought pomegranates, which are excellent and in season until Christmas. I also ate a lot of pomelos. I haven’t had any so far this year.

And to answer the question I always get: isn’t it bad for the environment to consume fruits from all over the world?

No. That’s a misconception. The transportation of fruit is very efficient and contributes only a small percentage to the total “energy footprint” of the food. You’d burn more gas driving to buy the food than what was used in getting the food to you from halfway across the world. Also, local fruits in the winter are kept in giant warehouses that gobble up a lot of energy, much more than an apple from New Zealand would.

I live within walking distance from my fruit market, so I’m confident that my energy “footprint” is actually lower than some of the local-food converts who drive half an hour to buy their locally raised eggs and winter vegetables. There’s nothing wrong with that, but the holier-than-thou attitudes of “locavores” doesn’t hold up to closer scrutiny.