Ok, so first - with no underlying motive - I think everyone - whether vegan, paleo, vegetarian, flexitarian, omnivore, Mark Bittman, Mark Rippetoe, or even the deceased Dr. Atkins, and Michelle Obama - would agree we need fruits and vegetables
Moving on - when I talk about companies in the business of fruits and vegetables, the food industry, for lack of a better word, sucks at producing good, non-junk fruits and vegetables. Your farm in Chile, Ecuador, Mexico, California, or WHEREVER cannot produce strawberries that actually taste like strawberries by the time they get to us, the consumer. The strawberries I get at the store taste of semi-sweet whiteness. Likewise, I have difficulty finding perfectly ripened peaches, nectarines, and apricots as opposed to mealy ones. And 9 times out of 10, I cannot find tomatoes that are not cotton-y inside (I don't have a bette description) and bland. Finally, no broccoli from the store has ever rivaled fresh-picked broccoli, so sweet and bright in flavor (although they are trying on this one (http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/10/dining/a-scientist-helps-to-reinvent-broccoli.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0)
Could it be that capitalism has failed us on food? Just a thought.... There are some things that someone doing the best thing for themselves does not have fringe benefits for everyone... Perhaps John Mack would argue otherwise. Whole Foods brings all these things to one store, right? But why can't the farmer doing what is best for the farmer (growing foods the best way he or she knows how) also be the winning piece of the puzzle? Why did all the farming have to leave the US?
Moving on - when I talk about companies in the business of fruits and vegetables, the food industry, for lack of a better word, sucks at producing good, non-junk fruits and vegetables. Your farm in Chile, Ecuador, Mexico, California, or WHEREVER cannot produce strawberries that actually taste like strawberries by the time they get to us, the consumer. The strawberries I get at the store taste of semi-sweet whiteness. Likewise, I have difficulty finding perfectly ripened peaches, nectarines, and apricots as opposed to mealy ones. And 9 times out of 10, I cannot find tomatoes that are not cotton-y inside (I don't have a bette description) and bland. Finally, no broccoli from the store has ever rivaled fresh-picked broccoli, so sweet and bright in flavor (although they are trying on this one (http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/10/dining/a-scientist-helps-to-reinvent-broccoli.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0)
Could it be that capitalism has failed us on food? Just a thought.... There are some things that someone doing the best thing for themselves does not have fringe benefits for everyone... Perhaps John Mack would argue otherwise. Whole Foods brings all these things to one store, right? But why can't the farmer doing what is best for the farmer (growing foods the best way he or she knows how) also be the winning piece of the puzzle? Why did all the farming have to leave the US?
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