Food supply is complex. So are flavors, and fresh produce has complex flavors which flatten out over time.
We have recently moved to Portugal, which is essentially one huge fruit and vegetable farm with a long beautiful beach. We bought a very small farmette already supplied with apple, fig, pear, orange, clementine, and lemon trees. We have seasonal fruits that we harvest each day. The flavors are indescribable.
Every little town here has its own daily for twice weekly farmers market. The local farmers bring their produce in from the fields on every market day. The quality outstrips anything one could even dream of in the US, and the costs are less than half US prices.
The fish here, as is known worldwide, are also local, fresh and delicious. No place in the entire country is far from a fishing area.
Portugal also grows hundreds of varieties of grapes, and the wines are complex, delicious, and cheap!! There are also endless dairy operations for cows, sheep, and goats, and the cheeses are 'to die for.'
None of this has anything to do with US food supply. But for those interested in improving the quality of their food life, while remaining in sophisticated Western Europe, Portugal is the place.
7
I'm sure the four million tons of bananas coming in here constitute a lot of the import edge. I recall one town with most of its good jobs connected to the railroads had a banana fesival every year to recognize the importance of the fruit shipped north from New Orleans.
2
I would rather buy local, but prices can be prohibitive, so I make do by buying a lot of produce in the frozen food aisle, where it is stable and generally tasty. I still worry about emissions in shipping, though.
1
This article is typical of news from the land of Entitlement: How will this food impact ME? A huge, ignored issue is: How does this food impact the PLANET? You need to show the carbon footprint of importing food from thousand of miles away, as compared to seasonal, local food. I prefer food as local as possible, and I can live without oranges in the summer and peaches in the winter.
11
I have been enjoying these local crispy sweet tart little yellow "Gold Rush" apples this whole long winter! They remind me of the sun.
1
What a snow job. The reason for food imports stems from ag businesses trying to be develops, such as Limoneira, Newhall ranch and many in Arizona. Plowing under prime ag land for tracts of homes creates sprawl and drives demand elsewhere . Ag should stick to core competency. Food independence is good for the country .
4
I find it kind of creepy that here in America we sit back and have the rest of the world grow our fruits and veggies and manufacture all of our goods. I can't help but recall the scrap drives and victory gardens and food rationing of the world war era (I didn't experience it but relatives did). I really don't live in perpetual fear of other nations suddenly being at war with the US and unilaterally starving us out, but as I watch prime farmland being paved over, I do get an uneasy feeling that we're like the cricket fiddling away while the self-sufficient ants wisely planned for the future.
11
I like having fresh food in the winter. Good idea. What is a bad idea is when we buy an apple in the fall that is from New Zealand, was harvested months ago when apples harvested in our country are not offered. A friend who lives in Minneapolis was able to get fresh apples from his state, but here in Massachusetts, even at Whole Foods, the apples were foreign. In season, I want fresh, American grown food choices.
5
We've never had a problem eating bananas. Now we have mangoes and (more) pineapples. If the fruit is healthy, why introduce more regulation to jack up prices?
Having a wide selection of fruit from around the world is a good thing. American's have always been worried about the boogeyman.
As a California resident, I am particularly shocked by this story. We grown citrus, strawberries, peaches, pears, avocados and a large variety of garden vegetable in our own small backyard. I can understand importing bananas, and pineapples, but apples and citrus from China? Are we out of our minds? I live in northern San Diego County, surrounded by avocado and citrus orchards. At Trader Joe's, all I see are avocados from Mexico. And, they are not cheap. Is this story yet another example of the triumph of the corporate greed over the welfare of American people? Think global, grow and buy local !
13
I would kill for a decent peach. Once every year I bite into perfection but mostly stone fruit are dreck, too hard,or too mealy.
5
Back in the mid 40s, my uncle contracted with farmers in Michigan to buy their crops. He’d take pickers in to pick and then would travel to stores to sell the produce. My cousin and I would sometimes go with him to the orchards or fields when he evaluated if the fruit was ready to pick. The fun we had jumping off the 12 foot ladders and the treat we had picking peaches or apples from the tree, biting into and having the juice dribble down our chins.
3
@GUANNA
I love to bake pies, but normal and tasty stone fruits are pretty much gone from the regular U.S. market. Now we have ones that don't ever ripen, the skins shrivel, the flesh around the stone gets moldy etc. Of course you can take a chance and buy a $2 peach, but on my budget I rarely waste my money. No more delicious peaches, plums, nectarines like we used to have. No french prune plums for pies these past 3 years.
3
I grow some of my own in my backyard, and I buy from local farmer's markets in season. And I look for American produce in the store -- but it's often not available, not even in the frozen fruits and veggies section.
3
For me as a consumer, I am very happy to be able to eat fruits from all over the world all the year round and tastier too. They are usually organic without pesticides and all the chemicals that destroy their soil and us too. I just have to wash them more thoroughly under running tap water or soaking them in a bowl of water. Most important, they are organic, label or not, unless we have interfered. The only negative for me is they perish very fast unlike the GMO fruits. But taste trumps. You walk into an Asian grocery store and you realize how many different eggplants, mandarins, squashes, bok choys and fruits ( some just colored spines ) there are in this world. I followed a funny, sickening smell and found jackfruit!?! I dared to taste it and I'm a fan ever since. The only problem is sometimes they are picked before tree-ripening and therefore goes from unripe to bad. And another downside I discovered was the local population in those countries could not get them or were very, very expensive thanks to growers who just wanted to export. Meanwhile with their poisoned soil the returns have been diminishing at a very rapid clip. Therefore whether good or bad is a very big question.
3
If it is labeled Organic it is organic but it would be foolish to imagine imported fruits are organic even it nit labeled Organic. These fruits are often grown on large factory farms which use the same pesticides and fertilizers Americans use.
Often these countries have much weaker regulation than the US. After reading your post I strongly suggest do more research, Imports are fine but don't imagine for a minute they are cleaner or always organic, they are not and never were.
8
Organic foods are more likely to have biological contaminants .The most dangerous are ergot and aflatoxin, but almost certainly , there are lesser unstudied toxins. What is needed is intelligent farming. Use the available tools, but with great care to avoid the very serious damage that misuse has done.
I believe this can be done
1
I am confused. When you travel abroad to places like Mexico, you are told to avoid eating fruit and other certain foods due to possible contamination. Yet we import tons of fruit from Mexico. Which one is it? Why is it ok to eat it here but not when visiting? If it is water related, should not we then steer clear of water and other melons grown there and sold in the US?
Also, I seriously doubt our federal food inspection process will be able to oversee and make sure our imported food is safe for consumption.
Wash all of your produce like your life depended on it because it does.
5
It is not the fruit but the local water. Vegetables are probably washed in chlorinated water and picked under sanitary conditions,
1
And they sometimes use human waste as fertilizer.
1
I am fortunate to have lived my life up and down the west coast of the US where there are now farmer's markets and food co-ops all over the place that prioritize selling local organic meat and produce. Here in Olympia, the local food co-op will carry out-of-season imported produce but always the priority is on local farms, with the names of the farms beside the produce.You can also get subscriptions for a weekly box of produce from a number of local organic farms via the CSA (Community Sponsored Agriculture) program. I have been buying organic fruit and veg for decades because of pesticide use here and abroad--even if they were harmless to humans, the use of pesticides is disastrous for insects and birds and our environment. I also grow my own veg and fruit. I won't even start on meat since this is an article on produce. Do other areas of the US really not have resources to buy local produce like we do here in California, Oregon, and Washington?
7
We do but have more seasonal restrictions. Snow in winter you know.
2
Yes, it is bad!
Most countries don't have the safety concerns for workers or consumers.
4
I wonder what their locals do for fresh produce? And do you really think they export their best to us?
1
World Economy. Import/Export/Local/Domestic are going to disappear. This article seems like it is not relevant to what is happening at The Top of the Business World. I suggest the New York Times, contact those people who are at the Top. The question is: When will the World Economy happen? I think with the Upper Class, it has happened. That is why they maintain their Upper Class position. It is really a matter of when it will happen for those in the Lower Class.
1
I am semi retired and work at a large regional food chain that imports from Chile in the winter and Mexico in the fall and spring. In the fall we get pallet loads of apples from NZ. Customers don't care - price is the driving factor. It is funny when they ask if the strawberries are local in the winter. Many will pick grapes while shopping and give it to their kids unwashed. Most have no concept where their food comes from.
8
The seafood and the fruits and veggies will soon be a thing of the past for the US. It will be all gone. We will have to import the fruit and veggies as we can't afford to produce them here. The fish, well, fished to extinction.
5
We have to learn to live with the seasons again. When a single recipe calls for some ingredients that ripen in spring and others that ripen in fall, it shows how out of touch we are.
8
I've wondered about that. One favorite example of it: rhubarb strawberry pie. My rhubarb is pretty much done when my strawberries ripen. I guess I could freeze the rhubarb to use later with the strawberries. Or maybe there are later harvested cultivars?
1
When land can be no longer profitable for farmers, it becomes a financial drain. The result is more rural poverty and more land used for grazing or housing developments.
4
This is true. We used to be the rice capital. Now the rice paddies are under new subdivisions that flood twice a year. There are more cows in dwindling pasturelands though. There will always be red meat here. We live less than an hour away from Galveston Bay but it's polluted and the seafood isn't worth the risk.
2
The tastiest fruits and vegetables I've eaten in my adult life were in poorer countries where the produce is grown for flavor rather than shelf-life, and fruit stays on the vine or tree until ripe. Two generations of Americans have grown up without knowing what a peach or chicken can taste like. Our chickens are fed soy beans and have no flavor so they need to be slathered with condiments to disguise their tastelessness. Our uniform tasteless potatoes are fried in awful soybean oil which necessitates lots of salt, ketchup or whatever you need to bury them under to satiate your taste buds. Chemically laced soil also affects the flavor of produce, and a lot of the flavor dies in long distance transit.
11
Well the fruit you are getting is grown for export not local consumption. Do people imagine their fruits from Mexico and CHile are grown of small farms. LOL.
1
I pass over so much tasteless winter fruit from south america/mexico. I now eat seasonally and enjoy my winter root vegetables, which i cook in broth that i've made from domestic chicken bones. If we all do the same then maybe, just maybe, we'll get fresh good tasting fruit and vegetables, and not ones that look good and travel well. However, I fear, most americans won't know the difference. Even though bananas are grown in latin america, they changed the variety, years ago, and no one noticed. Now we've raised a least one generation on bland fruits and vegetables that they will consider "normal". Sad.
8
There are new files here. They hitchhiked on the bananas my spouse insists on buying. I can tell when he sneaks them home from Whole Foods because we always have fruit flies.
The variety changed because of what happened to the bananas we ate back in the day. The stories were in the news but no one paid attention. I no longer eat bananas.
Yes, sad. Too sad.
1
My daughter when young invented the Banana Bandanna: Cover bananas loosely with a bandana (or really, any cloth -- a dish towel is fine.) The fruit flies disappear. I now just keep my bananas in a bowl covered with a dish towel. And haven't had a problem with fruit flies since I started. Knock wood.
This would explain why so much of America's fruit is so tasteless now. In my youth I worked in a produce department in a supermarket. We had to wait for a fruit to be in season, things were not available year-round. When their season arrived they put out on the counters and they had a taste which is much different than the tasteless fruits of today. When was the last time you had a honeydew melon that tasted sweet and juicy not hard and bland like we get in the stores today.
7
I'm sixty and in my youth, we got underripe stone fruit and tomatoes from our next door state of CA. We rarely got avocados but for a couple times a year. Yet we all looked forward to the winter CA oranges and their spring asparagus and artichokes but we only could find hard strawberries. I appreciate that we get more ripe stuff now, especially from the many farmer's markets that have pooped up in last ten years...and love that we now get berries, cherries and apples from WA. And mangos are now a staple. Distribution has gotten much better
4
It couldn’t be more true that produce is now cultivated to withstand shipping and picked long before it should be, and in turn, it tastes like it. I am returning to Thailand for the second year in a row this spring, on the strength of its pineapple alone. It tasted like pineapple I adored thirty years ago here. I am pretty sure I drank my weight in pineapple smoothies while there (and it shows).
A sad irony is that so many fruits and vegetables that traveled so far to get to my local store too often sit on my counter or in my refrigerator and end up going straight into the trash because they didn’t get eaten in time.
5
Fasinating to read this as a Brit living in France for 30 years. During that time, there has been a seachange here in the Paris region as so much produce is now imported from the southern coast of Spain, which very nearly touches Africa, so very much the equivalent of importing from Latin/South America for the US. And we have exactly the same soulsearching as to whether it's better to eat local/traditional/limited or whether to embrace the fact that "summer vegetables" are available all year round and just get on with and enjoy those vitamins.
But the really important piece that is missing from the article, even if alluded to in the article - but only just, is understanding what the environmetal impact of all this is. Should I still be religiously breakfasting on my bananas from Panama, assuming that it's only sea miles - and not air points - that I need to worry about?
And finally. and this time as a Brit who is - much against his will - about to be catapulted out of the European Union, what about all those stories about the near absence of regulation in the US, particularly concerning meat, cutting across animal welfare as well as hygiene (chicken washed in chlorine, which I confess, sounds like an abomination, but which we are told is perfectly OK in the good old US of A). Help, what am I to make of all this?
My honest opinion is that whether I'm in UK or France, I'd be mistrustful of any US produce.
9
I’m a lifer USA resident. You point out the demise of food safety regulation here and you are correct. The agribusiness industry and its lobbyists have been hell bent on removing ALL impediments to profit for decades. But, that is only the surface of the issue. We have specific regulations that prohibit testing for deadly compounds in our foods. Like, mercury in fish, fracking fluids in irrigation water, drug residues in drinking water, etc. We Americans are prevented from knowing what is in the food we buy! And now, those of us who can afford to buy Organic are faced with an ever growing blurring of the lines between “natural”, “contains organic ingredients”, “naturally grown”, “pasture raised”, etc, and true organic. All at the hands of big Ag. We are being poisoned for profit!
I’ve been cooking for fifty years and find it more challenging than ever to balance what’s available with good health. It is a crime. I admit to weighing environmental costs in my shopping choices and reject February strawberries from Chile and the like. My carbon footprint limit is 1500 miles though, for the bananas I love, I have to stretch that. Or move to the tropics (yuck) or give them up (worse!). Quitting beef was easy but, bananas? No way!
9
@ Michael Ashworth Paris, France
On the fruit imports in France, the best grapes I ever had were Italian large green sweet grapes on the Mediterranean Coast near the end of summer.
As a Usan (= American), I share your mistrust of many US products. I attribute their inferior quality to the national preoccupation with hamburgers-with-ketchup and tasteless vegetables.
5
I did not see anything in the article about the gases used in the holds of ships and containers carrying fruits and vegetables, to delay ripening during the voyage.
3
If everyone would just eat at McDonalds , like the good Lord had intended , there would be no need for most fruits and vegetables , maybe some potatoes for french fries , and apples for those delicious kinda apple pie like things , surely 'Mericans could produce that themselves,
Fruits and vegetables..................are you kidding me ?!!!
3
Of course it can be viewed either way. I see it as somewhat a bad thing since we are dependent on others and provide them with jobs. If they buy stuff from us, or support our country in various ways that would be fine. It also would be fine if they are a charity case.
This article assumes that everyone buys their produce. There are millions of Americans who grow their own. I've planted everything from apricot trees to watermelon to broccoli. I also (along with some of my neighbors) keep an eye peeled for the huge blackberries that grow beside the road and in the corners of the yard under the trees. Both the hidden native blackberries and the big, bold invasive ones make wonderful pie and jelly. Our neighborhood fruit might not get counted, but it's much better tasting and much cheaper than the imports that are on record.
8
Getting real soil and not ground bark mixed with sand is a real problem here. Gardening soil isn't what it used to be. I have a single raised bed, a small garden plot, and I grow some things in clay pots.
Our soil is heavy clay so we have to supplement, use our compost and keep our fingers crossed. Nothing tastes as good as what we harvest.
3
““If we can’t grow the products here, we’re going to have to import them,” said Kathy Means, vice president of industry relations for the Produce Marketing Association”. We CAN grow many things here. Just not as cheaply. If we stop externalizing environmental and social costs we will likely find that our temperate climate crops are competitive with those of slave labor economies.
8
This is pure madness. Shipping in fruits and vegetables from all corners of the Earth is only possible while cheap fossil fuel energy is available. We know that in the near future, this will no longer be the case (we are already having to tap more expensive and environmentally sources of fossil fuels such as tar sands and through fracking).
The sensible thing to do while we are still blessed with cheap energy is to increase the resiliency of our food supply and produce as much as we can locally. That we are not just show the bankruptcy of our corporate controlled capitalist system.
11
Beyond the environmental costs of packaging and shipping, there’s an interesting analysis to do on the impact of the crops ‘chosen.’
The US farms and exports meat and high-yield grains. Is it better (and for whom?) to farm those vs. a variety of fruits and vegetables?
2
Our ag is really quite diverse. Global markets drive food commodity production, so the money comes from things that are sold by the ship load to populations that can afford them. That’s grain (for which vast square miles of US farm land are well suited) and not asparagus (97% of which we import). We buy local and organic to the extent we can. I guess maybe 10% of what we cook.
Asparagus! - That reminds me of the book by Willa Cather about the woman farmer who grew asparagus, despite the scoffing of her neighbors. "My Antonia" I think. Sometimes you have to do what inspires you and forget the people whose sole ambition is big money.
3
In addition to the oil required by shipping, international trade is heavily dependent on disposable plastics for packaging. I picked up - then set right back down today some frozen green beans...from France. The thought of freezers on ships chugging across the Atlantic and then something I have to buy in plastic bags that will be tossed (all recyclable plastic eventually winds up as trash, there is no oil-based plastic that returns to the earth)...is too much. The future is agriculture that is not oil dependent (It is only a matter of time before oil will be so expensive), that is local, and that also shuns the use of disposable plastics, which, recent studies are now showing wind up.... in our precious food...
4
Yes, ocean going ships burn “bunker oil” the least refined and most polluting per ton of any other fossil fuel. I said goodbye to French wine decades ago.
2
I buy fruit from other countries without questioning if the taste is good. Watermelon this time of year from Mexico is sweet, juicy, and almost better than the watermelon in the summer months grown in the USA. I buy berries, too, and don't find them any better or worse than what is produced in the states. Additionally, most everything I buy is organic. Might be more expensive, but I'm worth it. I eat plant-based (no meat, no dairy, no processed foods, no eggs, etc.) so I'm not going to do without the foods I like. Watermelon in the morning. Berries in the evening. Truthfully, things like apricots shipped from California to North Carolina taste far worse than items shipped from Chile or elsewhere.
2
It's a very bad thing; for multiple reasons. I'll list two more here that I think did not appear in the article.
It requires expertise to grow fruit. When most of the fruit is grown elsewhere- our own experts go out of business, and die without passing on their knowledge. Does the world change? Always. Might we, 20 years from now, suddenly have reason to not buy and ship so much fruit from elsewhere? Easily - in fact I contend that history puts the probability of such a shift as way above 75%. If? When? We will have no one left who knows HOW.
Second - Trends in regulatory compliance. Around the world, there is universally only one trend in how much rules are followed. When new rules are instituted, compliance might be 90%; or even higher- nearly everyone is inspected. Then - 10 years later? Rules on pesticide residues? They are not inspecting any more; corrupt inspectors breed like cockroaches, always, everywhere; and with 100% certainty we can say that as years go by, less and less produce will actually be of the quality or purity that is claimed on the label. When it's done across borders- it's always faster and worse. ALWAYS. If - the produce is coming from nearby; we have a chance both of seeing it, and requiring the problem be fixed. Got contaminated in Peru? You will never find the one responsible.
Plus all the reasons in the article. Such a bad idea. Profits, yes- health and food security - down the drain.
12
“Vertical farms,” powered by renewable energy, will likely be a way for urban areas to hydroponically grow a wide variety of fruits and vegetables, and avoid the challenges of long-distance transportation and storage. Some (smaller) vertical facilities are already in operation, and have shown the ability to grown more per acre than their land-based counterparts. A number of architectural firms have already developed designs for beautiful farming skyscrapers.
5
Right, Andre. But, in the northern hemisphere (where most of the wealthy food shoppers live) those vertical farms are seasonal. Developing them as energy intensive, year around operations, present challenges for which technology is not yet ready for prime time. Fingers crossed on that part.
1
Things that seem obvious sometimes turn out to be not so. The claim that food shipped from far away is automatically more wasteful of energy than that produced nearby is often wrong, for several reasons. One is that sea transport, which accounts for the vast majority of US food imports other than from Mexico (e.g. grapes from Chile, onions from Peru, kiwi from New Zealand, lamb/beef from Australia) is far more efficient than other forms of transportation (e.g. trucks from even fairly close by areas) and actually results in lower unit energy consumption. Another is that more distant shipment from high-production areas usually involves larger shipment sizes, which reduces the per unit consumption of energy. Most important, producing food in areas with more appropriate climate and other input conditions uses far less energy and other inputs that that produced in local, but less suitable, conditions; for example Australian/New Zealand lamb can be more efficiently produced and shipped to European or US markets markets than local production.
It's not simple.
2
A lot of people could plant a fruit/nut tree or two or three in their yards. During WWII 40% of fruit and vegetable production was in people's Victory Gardens. It's one of the ways we can fight the war against climate change.
5
Another not simple aspect - that nice efficient sea transport - still burns the very dirtiest fossil fuels on the planet, and is responsible for far, far more than it's share of pollution; of all kinds, per mile. Could be much better - but it isn't.
3
It would be nice to see the science which supports your comments. I'm not suggesting that you're wrong, but it would help your conclusions.
1
Eating whatever one wants all year round is elitist and quite frankly a very colonial world view. The irony of the Whole Foods folks who think they are doing good by buying organic, when the avocados they buy are shipped thousands of miles from Mexico is unbelievable. Because of the voracious need of North Americans to eat an avocado any time of year, the supply in Mexico is limited. How hard is it to eat seasonally? This will have to end, and the people who will suffer the most will not be Americans, but the poor from Mexico, Chile and Ecuador.
8
You have the luxury of living in California, where an enourmous variety of fresh produce grows ten months of the year. Try living in Maine.
3
IMHO, avocados and bananas shipped 1500 miles have far greater value than European or Southern Hemisphere wine, cheese, honey, etc. Ship what we can’t grow here. Don’t ship when we can make here.
Well, perhaps some places on earth are not particularly habitable.
Of course it's a bad thing. What a stupid question. Government needs to be getting more people into farming at the local level. Everyone should have a victory garden or easy access to some land to grow their own food. During WWII almost 80% of all food came from victory gardens. Cities were self-sustaining. And they can be again. Most of America is simply to fat, lazy, and stupid to manage this anymore. So let them starve.
1
So do you recommend that everybody have a house in the suburbs or a semi-rural area to grow their own food? What would that do to housing density, and what in turn would that mean for any efforts to increase mass transit vs. even more use of cars? I don't think so.
It's really better to think things through before going off on these rants.
1
We used to have a strong agricultural American culture that supported many people in small towns. Now just corporations and ag businesses make money and cheap (think imported) is the byword. Cheap needs to be looked at hard.
Importing food and no longer knowing how to grow out own is a poor idea for our national security. Being able to eat anything all year long is really not so great. Seasonal produce beats that all to pieces. I await the arrival of tomatoes which will come soon. It has been months. Yum!
Most people can grow some food, even it it is only cherry tomatoes on a deck. Yards are small in SF, but I have grown plenty of tomatoes, greens, and green beans. Or, buy it from local small farms or farmer's markets. Other countries use greenhouses successfully for winter produce if they have a short growing season.
Choose your world. Big money is choosing it for us.
6
What if a significant proportion of the populace would prefer a house in the suburbs or a semi-rural area to grow their own food? What would that do to housing density, and what in turn would that mean for any efforts to increase mass transit vs. even more use of cars?
It would blow a hole in the current "urbanist" orthodoxy, that's what! Convert to electric-powered cars ASAP, and take fossil fuels out of the equation. Dense cities are fascinating places to visit, but not everybody wants to live there.
1
What is the effect of the cost and quality of food for the people of Mexico and other countries which are exporting to the richer countries? How can the poor compete for food that is in demand in wealthier countries? Is there a moral question here?
10
Check out the LA Times' excellent series, 'Product of Mexico', which is exactly addressing your questions. It is not a pretty picture by any means. http://graphics.latimes.com/product-of-mexico-camps/
The idea that “what matters to [consumers] in produce, whether price, freshness or origin” can be revealed solely by how consumer dollars are spent, fails to account for the 12.3% of US households that are food insecure (USDA ERS, 2016), and the countless other households that for other reasons face limited food-related discretionary choice. Many US food consumers can’t vote with dollars what matters to them. In addition, while the direction of the marketplace may offer valuable considerations for helping shape trade, agriculture, and food policy, we can’t leave the fate of something as central and critically important as our food system to market forces alone.
5
Sadly, with regard to consumer products, if you “can’t vote with dollars”, you don’t get to vote.
1
There is a saying: "Eat seasonally and bio-regionally." As others have commented I am old enough to remember when fruit was sweet, ripe and actually tasted like it should. It was also grown in the United States. Growing up in rural America, my parents and all my neighbors had their own summer gardens. So I know what produce is supposed to taste like. My mother and I used to pick wild blueberries in the summer - delicious! In the fall the local apple orchard would allow its customers to pick apples right off the tree. They were ripe, crisp and flavorful.
I started eating organic produce 30 years ago as it was the closest thing to garden grown. Sadly, today big aggra owns many of the organic farms and uses the practices of picking fruits green, shipping them in cooler trucks so they arrive at the store - hard, sour, and lacking in flavor. Allowing the to ripen at home doesn't seem to work. Last summer I bought very little fresh fruit because of this.
These days I let my eyes and nose tell me what to buy and stay away from that which doesn't look ripe. I prefer produce grown in the U.S. to foreign grown unless it is an exotic fruit or veggie that can't be grown here.
9
I, too remember those wonderfully flavored fruits from our Bay Area garden! You are spot on about the Big Ag move into organics but, remember, they are growing many varieties modified for shelf life, not flavor. The core of the quality problem is commodity agri-business.
1
Fruits and vegetables being sold out of the local season has its advantages, and you see it in every developed country, but for the love of god I wish it tasted better. Hot house tomatoes from Canada are horrific. They look good, but are completely tasteless any time of the year, not a drop on natural sugar. Grapes from Chile are good for display, but again, they are picked before the sun can work it’s magic. How many times have you purchased strawberries only to toss them into the recycle?
The only fruit we’ve encountered the past few years with any natural sweetness has been when we’re in Spain or Portugal. That’s a long way to travel for a slice of a juicy honeydew. Spain is also one of those places where restaurants serve only “seasonal” vegetables. Don’t expect fresh artichokes or asparagus out of season. Fresh tomatoes are one of the few exceptions because of the “plastic coast” around Almeria.
6
Obviously not a good thing. But, as reflected in the comments, people are motivated by individual self-interest. It has to be cheap and available year-round, other considerations be darned. Like just about everything else, things have flipped 180 degrees here. America fed the world, now the world feeds America (at our peril).
5
And therein lies the crux of our global problem. Our “I want” culture.
1
Gilroy, CA calls itself the Garlic capital of the world, yet most of the garlic sold even in upscale markets in the SF Bay Area is Produce of China - really? it is cheaper to grow garlic 7000 miles away and ship it to the SF Bay area.
5
I have learned that I need to watch for the word "distributed". I recently bought some asparagus labelled Castroville, CA. This sounded right, but then I saw that the business was located there, but the asparagus came from Mexico. I can wait until it comes from California.
Labelling is getting more and more slippery.
4
Not too long ago, I was buying some McCormick spices at the grocery store and not a one of them were from the US - all from China and god only knows what it really is or mixed with. And unfortunately, McCormick seems to be the only game in town and no other brand available.
4
That is true. The way to tell is that garlic from China has the roots sliced off. Domestic growers do not do that so home grown garlic has little roots attached. Easy!
All the more reason not to be a year-round vegetarian/vegan with your nose hanging in the air over folks that harvest/purchase veggies/fruits and meat (wild and domestic) locally.
Larger point here - too many people.
7
Why worry! Most Americans don't know what Vegetable or a Fruit are anyway - and guess what, they don't care!!! Put Cheese on it and in a microwave; this is all that a good portion of Americans know and worry about!
6
This was one of the ways the Roman Empire fell. They stopped growing corn, their staple crop, and almost all other vegetables domestically. Over time, large industrial latifundia turned all their vegetable fields into vineyards, so they could grow grapes to make wine. Staple foodstuffs were increasingly imported from Northern Africa, until Roman fields grew none at all.
When the barbarians first invaded, Roman supply lines were cut off immediately, and the Italian natives could not feed themselves during the occupation. They had no choice but to capitulate to the occupier's every wish, or starve.
That makes me think of California, where lettuce is being grown less and less in favor of almonds, that are more stable on the shelf and bring a higher price at export. What a strategic mistake!
8
Corn, aka maize here, is a New World crop that did not reach Rome until some seven centuries after the Roman Empire fell.
3
Almonds and lettuce are grown in two different ecosystem- the Central Valley and the coastal valley. They don’t compete for resources.
2
Someone needs to learn a bit more about history before expounding on it.
3
The real cost is packaging. I've noticed fruit and vegetables increasingly packaged in single use zip lock bags. Preparing a salad now produces a small pile of plastic with a lifespan of 500 - 1000 years. Absurd.
8
The plastic extends the shelf life to 15 days vs 3. You have to compare food waste vs plastic waste to get the whole story plus all that water, fertilizer and pesticides used to produce garbage
1
I think, rather, we have to measure the true costs of satisfying our every advertising invoked desire against the true environmental costs of meeting those needs.
1
First of all California has no business being in the farm business.
They are using water that they don’t have. Also bear in mind that when we import products from beyond our boarders we get their water. It may not sound important but it is. In some areas of our globe water is more dear then oil.
5
the last i heard California was a state not a business; it does not seem physically possible to use water you don't have; and anyone who looks westward from LA will see an awful lot of water
1
Your point about importing others' water in our imports - called 'virtual water' - is correct, and failure to mention that in this article was an oversight. See: http://www.ejolt.org/2012/12/virtual-water-and-water-footprint/
1
I live in a country where local farming is protected and there are very few imports of produce. The result is that Israel, a small country, grows an amazing variety of fruits and vegetables. The result is also that some are of truly superior quality and some are rather “eh” and some are very expensive. Very small and expensive blueberries, for example. Tiny expensive pineapples (there are some imports, too, outrageously expensive). We have the best tiny cucumbers found anywhere, truly! But the bananas, though they taste OK, are puny. And fruits are definitely seasonal. There are months that it is virtually impossible to find an avocado. There is truly an excitement (and a special blessing) when the first peaches of the season are available. When I travel to Europe (and the US, if I go to Whole Foods), I envy the wider variety and the quality of some of the produce, while I can also appreciate what we do really well in Israel. Exanding the options for imported produce would be to the benefit of the consumers, here, over all. (I believe there is also a national security issue in encouraging our local farmers - you never know when there would be a boycott by some EU countries, for example, but I don’t want to get into politics.)
6
"There is truly an excitement (and a special blessing) when the first peaches of the season are available"
Exactly! And why should we give that up for "oh, the peaches are on sale this month- they'll be 20¢/lb more again for the next 6 months..."
I think it's a mistake to trade the excitement when the next fruit come in for - 20¢ off. Is it horrible torture to do without peaches for most of the year? Not really. Apples, pears, melons, berries...
2
Here in Brazil, there exist many small, local farmers markets wherein all fresh fruits and vegetables cost about 60 cents a kilo or about 30 cents a pound.
Limes, potatoes, peaches, apples, mangoes, pineapples, grapes, watermelon, eggplant, squash, tomatoes,etc. etc. are all the same price...granted, the apples and peaches etc. are not as pretty as those in the US, and they may have little worms...but they are fresh, tasty, plentiful and inexpensive.
There is definitely nothing grown in China in these farmers markets. We do get items from Chile and Argentina.
2
Worms, you say?
Yes, some of the apples have worms; so does the lettuce.
Don’t you wonder why our American corn from Georgia in most “Farmers Markets” are perfectly formed with nary an insect? Why the locals upstate New York won’t eat the corn because it is treated with”Round Up”?
Give me little bugs that I can simply wash off anyday.
6
In 1968 I bought gorgeous ripe sweet cherries on the street in Vienna. They turned out to mostly have a little worm inside down by the pit. In outrage, I took them back, and the farmer looked at me like I was crazy- "Of course there's a tiny worm! Spit 'em out if you don't like the flavor. It's our proof to you that our cherries have not been sprayed with poison!" The bystanders seemed to agree with the farmer- and I went back to my apartment- and ate the cherries. Most of the worms I discarded.
2
We grow the best and most delicious tomatoes in New Jersey and Long Island,
but try finding them in local supermarkets and you will be disappointed.
Why? All this talk of farm to table doesn't exist when you shop locally.
I wouldn't mind so much if the imported tomatoes were any good, they're not.
Why is it so difficult to buy our own, superior, locally grown produce?
9
I am with you on buying locally but it has to be in season. Buying a nice Jersey tomato in months other that July, August and September is a bit tricky. Do what some of us do, don't buy imported and eat seasonally. Do you have local farmers markets? Support them all you can, don't complain about the price and eat well.
3
Go to your nearby farmer’s market.
1
The majority of the comments are "grow your own food," "I only eat local," "I would never buy cardboard-tasting imported produce." Where should apartment dwellers grow their own food? When would a single mom working three jobs have time to weed her garden? Is it wrong that someone gets to eat a mango once in a while, especially if they know they'll never be able to go to a tropical island to try one? I'm all for local and sustainable and whatnot, and I'm so glad you live close to the farmer's market. No one wants extra pesticides or should have to worry about food safety, but what is someone supposed to do when they can't afford organic produce, don't live close to the farmer's market or the prices are inaccessible, already have a high water bill, don't own land to grow their own food, or frankly, don't even know where their next meal is coming from? I am a single person earning $60000 a year and even I can't afford organic produce or the high water bill that comes with gardening in my area.
23
You’re in Austin and can’t get to a farmer’s market? Skeptical!
4
I live in Iowa and in February 2017 I saw fresh peaches in my local grocery store. A little bit incredulous I picked up one and gave it a sniff. The fragrance of peach wafted into me. The label said Chile on it. I bought several and enjoyed them for the next several days on my morning cereal. This year I've been watching for them and bought some last week. These peaches make me happy as I wait for the Georgia, California, and Colorado peaches I know will be available this summer.
10
Those peaches come at a cost which is not reflected on your store receipt. This is the main issue here. Enjoy!
In the old days our choices were fresh in season, frozen or canned. Now it can be fresh whenever we want it, frozen or canned. That’s a good thing.
6
If your tummy is the only thing you care about.
1
That “good thing” comes with high environmental/social costs which you may want to consider.
Judging by the comments; I've touched a nerve. Okay. There's something you need to understand about globalized food supply chains.
First, they lead to a homogenization of biological diversity. Each country seeks to maximize their competitive advantage relative to other countries. You grow what you're best at growing and leave everything else to someone else. If things go wrong, you hope they go wrong somewhere else.
Second, globalized food supply leads to environmental degradation. We can look to the disappearing water supplies across the Andes or deforestation throughout South America. The environmental cost is not limited to supply travel logistics. The plane trip isn't the only damage.
Third, you might consider social injustice. The hands-in-the-dirt farmer is not typically the person who benefits most from international agriculture. Maybe in the US where rents and massive scale lend an advantage to certain industries. In most of the world though, the farmer grows the crop and takes only a fraction of the profit. If you need an example, study fair trade and the coffee bean the next time you drink a Starbucks.
My initial point was, and still is, the average consumer has limited awareness of any of this going on. Here's my homework assignment for you: Pick any piece of food in your kitchen. Figure out where precisely the food came from, how it was processed, and how it got to your table. Contact each touch point in the supply chain and ask for an opinion. Have fun.
14
You didn’t “touch a nerve” you claimed that your stores didn’t post where their produce was grown. I pointed out that, if true, that was illegal and told you the name of the legislation.
While it has long been known that fruits and vegetables are generally healthy the downside of fruit and veggies with pesticide residues is that long term studies are difficult and expensive and in most cases non existent. I say eat locally when possible and in season when possible. Know the source of what you consume.
4
The inside poop on pesticide testing; which some of us growers are able to dig out from time to time- is utterly terrifying. It's not only often done badly, clearly inadequately, it is also often done corruptly - where the big pesticide companies have an in with the "regulators", so they pass illegally poor tests.
All the time.
2
Buy fresh local berries in bulk and immediately freeze boxes of them. We do this with Maine blueberries, 10 lbs a box. Excellent for cooking straight from the freezer and on cereal, ice cream etc when defrosted. But I also buy Mexican blackberries and raspberries in the winter. They are far better tasting than the berries from Driscolls in California.
5
The answer to the title of this article is complex - it is bad for American businesses and farms, and it is good for diversity of products available in stores. Agriculture is a nuanced business. Many factors determine the final product - climate, weather, yield, pesticides, genetically modified organisms, political climate, and, of course, consumers' wants. While importing rarely-seen fruits to American shelves is great in that people can experience the tastes of different countries and cultures, it is also bad in that other countries have different laws regarding pesticides: what may be an acceptable amount of chemical additives in one country may be considered highly harmful but the Food and Drug Administration in the United States. Furthermore, small American farms could suffer due to lessened interest in their products. The question, really, is what do the people want: tasty, locally grown fruits and veggies, or tasty, exotic fruits and veggies grown overseas that could be harmful?
Perhaps Mexico will retaliate against Trump’s destruction of NAFTA and his relentless racist and nationalistic bigotry toward it by holding back fresh food exports for a while. Let’s see how Americans like not having lettuce, avocados and other fruits from November through March.
P.S. Not everyone lives in California
5
California, Texas, New Mexico, Florida, and several deep southern states provided all the salad vegetables for the entire country during the Winter months, before we opened our markets to agricultural produce. We could go right back to that in about 2 years if we had to.
6
Where are all the workers for these farms Greg?
5
Sure and who will be working these fields after all the illegals (who currently do all the work) are sent home?
2
When I starting see Apple Juice with sources like Hungary, Guatemala, and China, yes China on the label, I said, first is that healthy, and second, and more importantly from an economic standpoint, what are Americans suppose to do?! Nothing in my upbringing is and was more American, than Apples! Like Apple Pie!!!
7
Apples do exist outside the US.
3
No mention here of food security? Here in upstate NY we have eliminated orchards of apples, cherries and peaches in favor of subdivisions (that we don't need). These orchards were strategically placed in the special micro-climate that is the shores of the Great Lakes. But even if you tore down all the houses that were developed there you could never farm them again because the soil is ruined. Ss we inadvertently will be stuck importing these crops in perpetuity.
12
Since each year up to 60 million tons (50%) of fruits and vegetables in this country are simply tossed or fed to livestock, it's obviously better to buy locally grown produce because of the much shorter trip to the compost heap.
3
Whenever possible, eat local. But the definition of "local" needs to be agreed to.
3
Yes, it is a bad thing. Very, very bad.
2
So will this mean we'll finally stop hearing the "crops rotting in the fields" hysteria every time immigration is addressed?
3
I purchased some beautiful peaches a year ago from a large grocer in our area, and when I got home, left some out and refrigerated others, to see which would work best. In a few days I tried both and they were both horrible, tasting like cardboard. I told the fellow in the produce department it is obvious why people buy donuts, they are cheaper and they have quality control, if your donut tasted in comparison to how it looked, as bad as the peaches had, you would have a case, but with the peaches, blah. The oranges are dry, the berries are tasteless, who knows where we are going, but it is obvious why people are so overweight.
4
I've bought California naval oranges all winter long and they've been delicious. I used them in salads and eaten them out of hand. The best! I try and buy American which means I try and eat seasonally.
1
Yes it is, and it's called junk food
Putting them in the refrigerator was your first mistake. Assuming they were "fresh" was your biggest mistake.
Although I don't know how that contributes to people being overweight.
I used to love to eat fresh peaches, but they are now invariably mealy and tasteless.
6
According to the BBC, 860 million residents of India do NOT have indoor plumbing. Think about this when buying frozen or thawed farmed shrimp or other foods from India. The most common place to excrete is in the fields.
6
Fraught with pros and cons, this article underscores global trade relations. Whether we like it or not, we are interdependent. The uneven produce quality none withstanding, we need each other. It's how we may mitigate disasters of drought, floods, insects, plant disease as climate change bears upon us. Remember the potato famine? California drought and fires? Unfortunately we live in a nation of Trump who cares so little about anything of such importance. Mr. 'Me First' is a dangerous fellow.
Re produce, I rarely purchase fruits lately. Whether from US or elsewhere because they're tasteless and mealy. Even local peaches are not what they were when I was a kid. The juices running down my face! They must be hybridized to produce large fruit that packs well. Unless a neighbor shares home grown, they're off the list. Veggies' quality are more reliable. Local summer bounty in the Hudson Valley is an event! And who doesn't crave avocados? Thankfully, that global trade expanded my taste experiences. Except for inedible kiwis and such lately. Spices, coffee, tea! Now how great are they! Just pray that Trump Wall doesn't materialize.
2
Oh please NY Times. If you are the true believers that CO2 emissions are a huge crisis and we are all going to die etc. etc. etc. if we don't put everything we have into fighting climate change then you should rage rage against the importing of fruits and veggies. The longer the haul of food we eat from where it is grown to where we live the more CO2 goes into the air. Simple math. Simple science. And fruits and veggies aren't particularly heavy, -- so how many planes worth of raspberries, let's say, does it take to get fresh raspberries into the NY metro area to satisfy the demands of the 20 million people or so who live in the NY metro area? The blackberries, blueberries, etc. Avocados. Tomatoes. The lettuce. Carrots.
Compare the carbon footprint of buying locally grown fruits and veggies vs importing. Someone needs to do the math -- I'd love to but I'm working on other stuff, but someone in the climate section should jump on this type of issue. Sure, we consumers might have to do without fresh fruit and veggies year round if we depend on local sources. We might have to, oh gee, can them like they did way back in the day. My grandparents, for example, grew almost all of their vegetables in a garden in their back yard. They canned what they couldn't eat for the winter. Not much CO2 going into the atmosphere based on that model of getting your food.
7
Thank you for this comment, as some things are so obvious and yet we get all worked up thinking about them...only to find out 20 or 30 years later that our initial instincts were right. I commented elsewhere, but a major additional problem I see is packaging: just walk through any grocery store. Every dam thing in the store is wrapped in plastic. Some are in cardboard boxes with plastic bags hidden inside. Those bags are all made from oil. They last forever and wind up in the environment, and we eventually will be eating and drinking the bags themselves in the form of microplastics.Whether that is a bad thing or not, I suppose, we do not know yet for sure. My bet is it's probably not a good idea.
1
Imported fruit tastes bland. Cantaloupes are hit or miss.
I can say the same about imports from the US.
It's ironic that home produced steel to build weapons of war is considered a national security priority to keep us safe from real or imaginary enemies but it's just fine to allow Federal farm subsidies and imports to turn American agriculture into an industrial mono-culture for animal feed and processed foods that are slowly killing us.
3
But Jonathan, it's not to protect us. The weapons are to protect the interests of multinationals. You mean you didn't know that? It's the only reason we fight wars. There's money to be made in slowly killing us. After all, this does service to big Parma, insurance companies and the like. Given the main ingredient in Monsanto roundup, and GMO based fruit and vegetables business is getting a steady stream of sick customers to sell their wares. Sickening.
An old orchard of pear trees lay on their sides right now in mendo county ca. Can’t compete with imported pears. Very sad.
4
Boy am I glad I live in So. California where I can grow most of my own vegetables at my community garden & buy the rest at the Santa Monica farmers market!!
4
This article compared the difference in nutritional value of the same vegetables between domestic and imported I assume. While this may be true if you compare the exact variety of veggie... the reality is that big ag farms grow low nutrient, long shelf life, transportable varieties, while small farms grow many varieties of a vegetable. Some of these have double or triple the anti-oxidant value of another variety. Refer to Jo Robinson's Eating on the Wild Side to see which varieties provide the most nutrition for your buck and you will realize that domestic produce is actually a better deal for your health per dollar than imported. Yes, imported vegetables have the ability to grow high nutrient varieties, but they do not because of the economics....so until then keep buying local organic
2
I'm no fan of tasteless tomatoes, no matter where they come from. But don't they look great sitting on my windowsill above the kitchen sink. The same goes for blueberries and strawberries. They grace my refrigerator with their presence. I feel good when the larder is full, and the fridge displays a bounty of produce. Makes me feel as though I'm doing something truly good, organic, healthful.
Never mind that this cornucopia of first-world bounty is little tastier OR healthful than its packaging. Or that, frankly, the last bag of Granny Smith's that I bought were so acidic I couldn't even use them for baking. Or that the tomatoes, bought six weeks before, were still showroom-perfect the day I got back from a month-long trip to Florida. Or that, alas, I could probably get more minimum daily nutrition by going out into my yard and scooping up a handful or dirt into my mouth.
Unlike some, what, 100-million-plus Americans today born after the point at which tomatoes stopped tasting like tomatoes and apples stopped tasting like apples. If you can access a farmers' market, great. And it should be said that not all supermarket produce is unhealthful.
But if you really want to be do it right, stop complaining and start your own garden.
4
One unintended consequence of year round availability of fruits and vegetable: the real basis for astrological descriptions will no longer apply. Think about it - for most of human history, pregnant people had to eat seasonally and in many locales, intake of fruits and vegetables fluctuated wildly by season. What do you think influences the development of personality more? Some made up planetary alignments or if your pregnant mother sustained herself fresh fruits and vegetable versus pickles and smoked meats?
"Of some concern is a 2015 report from the Food and Drug Administration that found that 9.4 percent of imported fruit samples violated federal standards for pesticide residues, compared with 2.2 percent of domestic samples. (For vegetables, the figures were 9.7 percent for imported and 3.8 percent for domestic.) But that’s probably not enough to justify avoiding imported produce."
This is an area of concern.
3
like peppers from Peru. Crops that previously would have not been approved because they might introduce invasive pests and diseases ..."
I'm having to evacuate my apt next week for the "pest people" to fight the pests likely brought in with fruit and veggies from Mexico. In calif where lemons and avocados are falling from the neighbors trees, we are forced to pay premium prices for imported lemons and avocados, among other things. The imported fruit is especially inedible as it is generally unripe and tomatoes are like red rocks. If one keeps this stuff until is seems "ripe" is is rotten by then. Year-round everything is a hoax and a financial ripoff for the consumer.
4
My reaction to this article is indifferent. I see both sides of the spectrum, and can assume that there will be people to react more negatively than positive to this. As Karp speaks about volume and value, I am puzzled by the statistics of US imported fruit. From my knowledge both imports and exports have been climbing since 2000. Although, U.S exports have been recorded to fall slightly in 2008, and again in 2014-Present. The title of the article is a bit infuriating.
As Karp mentions, "9.4 percent of imported fruit samples violated federal standards for pesticide residues, compared with 2.2 percent of domestic samples." This is not enough to justify avoiding imported produce. Considering the "100 new rules allowing specific crops to be imported from certain countries". Yes our national security matters, but to what extent do we consider these system approaches a bit excessive in the grand scheme of things.
It is easy to criticize and find flaws in food that is not homegrown. The general question should be: Is it GOOD for the well being of the country?
I am a horticulturist and I am infuriated by this article. Are Mr. Karp's numbers volume or value? Do they include trade to Alaska? Do they include bananas? USDA, FAO and other trade stats are not nuanced enough to support the arguments that Mr. Karp makes.
Mr. Karp avoids a seasonal analysis and discussion of technical limits to horticulture. He avoids discussion of consumer location and market size. Watch the videos about the Vermont Farm to School program then read about the shortage of farmers in PA.
Mr. Karp avoids consideration of cultivars. Cultivar preference is critical to import patterns. US commercial farmers plant purple eggplants of a single shape (Direct market farmers produce others.). Fancy eggplants in bulk are imported from Europe where they are in commercial production.
We import organic products because domestic production is insufficient. We import mountains of bananas.
Mr. Karp brushes off strong exports of fresh and dried vegetables and fruit. California almonds dominate the world. Prunes too. We export Red Delicious apples because we don't like them. And Canadians eat what?
I'll close with the idea that has shaped my career. We as humanitarians must consider the importance of income for hardworking farmers in the larger world. This income promotes peace and stability in addition to raising their, and our, quality of life.
NB If you are concerned about food miles, check the latest quantitative research. It will ease your mind somewhat.
6
What is your point? You say you are "infuriated by this article." About what?
Mr. Karp presents certain facts. If you disagree with certain facts in the article, which facts and why. You say, "[w]e export Red Delicious apples because we don't like them. And Canadians eat what?" So? What is your point?
1
First paragraph: Trade numbers don't support what Mr. Karp says in the way that he says it. Check for yourself. The 1500 character limit does not permit a detailed rebuttal. Rest of my letter: his discussion is a blunt polemic without nuance. Why should I not be annoyed?
1
So steel and aluminum production are national security matters; while I may debate Trump on his response, they are national security matters. We've now blocked Broadcom's acquisition of Qualcom, on national security matters, as control/influence in the developing 5G market are of grave concern. And I agree. But if you really want to put a country's security at risk, lose control of your food supply. You think you can't live w/o internet or WiFi? We take good, cheap food for granted. Don't. Support domestic producers b/c its almost certainly better, fresher, less toxic, it supports your own communities, and its good for the country.
10
I've lived in places (Sri Lanka, Thailand, South India) where there is lots of good stuff in the local markets throughout the year. The mix varies with the season, but there is always a good choice of local fruits and vegetables.
This simply is not the case in the Northeast of the US.
To eat both locally and seasonally would mean pretty slim pickings from November to April.
Overall, I appreciate the variety I get from Chilean and Mexican growers.
A good mango in December and some good Asparagus in February are welcome on my table.
If I were back in Sri Lanka or Thailand I would be a good locavore
7
Silicon valley used to be one of the premier fruit producing regions in the country: cherries, plums, peaches, nectarines etc. Now it is, well, all silicon. Clear Lake, a little north of SF, used to be the biggest pear growing spot in the US, providing most of the country's crop. Now, like most of northern Cal's agricultural land, the pear orchards have been converted to vineyards.
14
Vote with your purchasing power. I live in Michigan. I buy Michigan grown fruits and vegetables. I buy organic and I buy from local farms. I support my neighbors' livelihood. I eat what's in season. I don't eat foreign grown produce. I don't want the pesticides, etc. Not to mention the carbon footprint issues. If more people ate seasonal and local, there would be no need for this article.
21
This is a real question, not an attempt to be sarcastic -- but what do you eat in the winter? Do you preserve stuff when it's in season (whether freezing, canning, making into preserves and jams)? Do you not eat salad in the winter, or do you have one of those set-ups that lets you grow lettuce indoors?
I certainly buy from farm stands and a CSA in the summer, but starting around this time of year, we are eating the produce the grocery store stocks. I am (legitimately) interested in how other people who live in temperate climates without a winter growing season deal with this.
6
I live in Boston and manage to eat local, seasonal produce all year long. We have a fantastic Winter's Farmers Market here that goes from November to the end of March. By April, most of the spring/summer markets are up and running with the year's first produce, so I am never at a point in the year where I am unable to buy local.
Here is the thing though. You have to learn to wait for things like tomatoes and cucumbers. At the winter market, you can find carrots, potatoes, sweet potatoes, a wide variety of winter squash, beets, celery root, cabbage, onions, garlic, among other things. Some of the farms have greenhouses/hoophouses in which they are able to continue to grow hardier greens like kale, spinach, and bok choy. So basically, in order to eat local year round, you need to be prepared to eat root veggies and squash every day (luckily these are some of the most versatile veggies out there so the meals I prepare never get repetitive).
Needless to say, I eat like a locavore Queen all year round thanks to what these wonderful small farmers are able to do. You just have to learn how to live with the seasons. Winter = root veggies, summer = a glorious bounty that it is always well worth the wait.
6
My family makes applesauce, apple slices, baked apples and freezes them during the apple harvest time. We pick and freeze blueberries from a local farm and have them through most of the winter. We freeze our own raspberries. We freeze our carrots and pick green beans at a local farm and freeze them also. We process fresh tomatoes into salsa and maranara sauce. The rest of our produce we buy. It is a start. If we do not support our local food providers and our national food providers they will not be there some day. Freezing foods is not time or labor intensive.
2
I hadn't noticed.
I only buy North American-produced foods, unless the product is not produced in North America.
And I typically buy foods according to the season. E.g., if it isn't apple season in North America, then I am not eating fresh apples.
5
The climate impacts of transporting fruits and vegetables into the US are awful. It is not green to buy fruits and veggies from other countries. There is plenty of healthy and delicious food grown seasonally, all winter long, in every state in the US. Support you local farmers. Greenhouses are NOT expensive to heat: they are expensive to cool. That is why there are so many tomato greenhouses in Maine and Canada. Eat what is in season, or what is readily stored in root cellars or local chill houses. You will have a fabulously rich diet if you occasionally add items from other parts of the US—winter lemons and oranges from Florida and California, for example—to what is available at local winter farmers’ markets and in my large, chain grocery store as a result of consumer demand for local produce.
8
I find it interesting that dependence on foreign production of steel and aluminum is highlighted as a risk to national security, but reliance upon foreign food is not. I'd hazard a guess that cutting off the supply chain of imported fruits, veggies, and fish would bring us to our knees far faster.
I worry, too, about the implications of so much of our domestic production being based in a single area of California so stressed by drought.
10
The article fails to distinguish between imported food that replaces US products and imported food that supplements US production. A lot of foreign imports are on the shelves when seasonally grown US crops aren't available. So buying a Mexican tomato in January doesn't really impact California producers. Imported fruit and vegetables give consumers more options throughout the year. The alternative is canned and frozen - which was the only choice when I grew up.
4
Living in upstate NY we had a half acre garden. In the spring my neighbor drove his 8-gang plow-equipped John Deere in one side of it and out the other after which we covered it 8 inches high in spoiled hay obtained by cleaning out a local dairy farmer's barn. Planting was a matter of pushing the hay aside, waiting for the sprouts to appear and pushing the hay back around them to keep down the weeds. Between freezing, making ketchup and tomato paste and putting up winter squash in the root cellar we ate well year-round. We picked Brussel Sprouts and Broccoli into early December. We also raised pigs and a steer in cooperation with a neighbor. Now, living in a northern Virginia retirement community, I can only imagine how the HOA would react to any vegetable garden larger than a flower pot on the porch, never mind pigs.
My uncle raised vegetables on a tiny plot between two driveways outside his apartment well into his nineties. The neighbors complained but they took the produce he offered anyway.
Some combination of my uncle's garden, local greenhouses, hydroponics and innovations yet to come may be our salvation. I recently visited a facility that grows an insane amount of lettuce and tomatoes hydroponically in racks 20 feet high. The proprietor plans to clone the operation in several locations next door to his restaurant customers suggesting at least one path forward.
12
Despite many efforts, fruit in the USA for the most part is quite tasteless, primarily because USA imports all fruit very green, and allowing fruit to ripen on the tree/bush is unbeatable. I still recall the taste of peahes in Greece, Manila mangoes in Mexico... oranges in Valencia, etc
8
David Karp missing an important part of the entire food purchasing. Information. When you walk through a fresh produce aisle, how many fruits or vegtables have a "made in Peru" label stamped on them? If you go to a specialty store, they might have a locals section. In most grocery stores though, an apple is an apple. Either the apples in stock look good or they don't. There really no way for the average consumer to make an informed decision outside direct-to-consumer supply. Think farmers markets.
Sure, you can guess an avocado in February is from a long way away but whether the origin is Californian or Mexican is rarely revealed. The people really deciding the right balance between domestic and foreign produce is grocery stores and wholesalers. From a nutrition stand point, their decisions might be beneficial. However, you can guess your nutrition isn't their number one priority. Get people in the store buying products at a high margin with low spoilage. That's the bottom line. Is that bad? I don't know. Let's not pretend the consumer has the advantage here though.
2
Look up COOL, Country Of Origin Lables. It’s a Federal law requiring that certain foods, including fresh and frozen fruits and vegetables be labeled with their country of origin. Many fruits and vegetables have stickers on them and vegetables sold in bunches like asparagus and scallions have an information tag hanging off the rubber bands. Most bulk produce like potatoes usually list the country on the shelf tag.
If grocery stores in your area don’t have these labels, they’re not in compliance with the law.
4
Maybe it's unique to Salt Lake City, but in New York and most places I know of, all fresh fruit and vegetables usually have a sticker on them showing the country of origin. Even all of the fruits and vegetables sold by street vendors in NY. Besides, if your complaint is that "[t]here is really no way for the average consumer to make an informed decision...," just ask the seller on the spot. If you don't like the answer, don't buy it.
2
I think you miss the point entirely. If you're a concerned consumer, you can research country of origin and purchase according to your conscience. The cast majority of consumer either 1) don't have the option because there are only limited vendors in their area. Or 2) don't really care after work and kids all day. They'll take whatever is on the shelf. And 3) they don't understand the economic significance of an origin label anyway. The same way you don't understand what "organic" or "natural" or "American" on label means either. Unless you talk to the farmer what do you really know? Responsible food consumerism is primarily a marketing device.
It seems that the folks that buy fruits and vegetables regularly occupy a continuum from "locavore/organic ideals" to 'it's cheap and I like it, so there."
Lot's of folks are in the middle somewhere, but the number gets bigger as we move toward "it's cheap."
This tends to correlate with income, as even many farmer's market vendors, particularly those in urban areas, assume a degree of prosperity when pricing.
I think this division is stable and won't change much over time. Cost determines most people's purchases. To the extent that organics are cheaper now it's because factory farmers have been able to adapt to the requirements and big boxes and supermarkets find that they can sell them. But even these retailers have an incentive to keep organics at least a bit more expensive than regular produce.
Lower prices are not likely to spread to locavore production. It may expand some, but not enough to make prices competitive, except at the peak of harvests. And even then, I'm seeing farmer's market prices now stay stable then, as the superior quality justifies the price for many (myself included).
So, locavore/small organic will expand some, which will be good for a number of rural areas. But it's not likely to really change the sourcing of food for most consumers. Large scale organic will expand and the prices will drop some, but not to even. And because they also come from factory farms, they won't change the sourcing of food appreciably.
1
Sticking with the local, in-season fruit as much as possible, year round.
And giving my money to the local CSA Farmer's Market.
Happy to be moving back out of the annual repetitive stored apple-imported banana- and (some) domestic citrus season.
Can't wait for local stone fruit and berry time!
6
`"Mr. Pollan, not surprisingly, does worry as imports climb. “I think it would be a tremendous loss if we weren’t growing a significant percentage of our produce, for reasons having to do both with quality, and with the knowledge of the environment that farmers bring to a society,” he said.`
In short, Mr Pollan support Mr Trump's policy of placing tighter limits on NAFTA imports.
2
Ridiculous. He didn’t say that at all.
2
As a small farm family producing cranberries and pick-your-own strawberries, I know how many rules and regulations we HAVE to follow. I have little faith that foreign farmers have to adhere to our standards. Sorry but I will wait until grapes and other treats are in season.
18
I can taste the chemically spray on domestic peaches and plums, even from conventional farmers at the market. It has got to go!
3
I don't want to eat or support factory farming or monoculture so I buy organic & local whenever possible. However, seeing organic fruits & veggies grown in Mexico, Chile, South Africa, etc. doesn't inform me of the type of farm grown on, or if truly organic. Is this information available?
5
Just slap an organic sticker on it and charge double. Who will ever know?
3
I still buy my fruits and vegetables seasonally, when they're likely grown close to home (esp. since home for me CA). I find that most off-season fruits and veggies simply do not taste good, regardless where they're grown.
That applies as much to a domestically grown apple that's been sitting in storage for 6 months as it does to a foreign grown one that had to be shipped a long distance.
6
Growing our own food should be our main goal, present and future, for a more sustainable and healthier planet and life.
16
"There doesn't seem to be any evidence" regarding the loss of nutrients or if the food is less safe to eat. Is anyone actually looking for this? I stopped buying fruit almost entirely a good ten years ago, simply because I'm old enough to know what fresh fruit should taste and feel like. Fresh local fruit, in season, is delicious. Other than pomegranates and, briefly, grapes, the rest of what's being sold here in our food stores isn't worth having at the prices demanded. Little flavor, unpleasant textures, rock-hard avocados, pears and plums, either sour or tasteless kiwi, perfect-looking oranges that mold in two days, consistently. This is the case in the better stores in my area, in a major metropolitan area. The rare vegs I eat are frozen, for the same reasons, minus the mold.
Other than Vitamin C, which is easily obtained in numerous delivery systems, the other benefits of fruit are also easily gotten from non-fruits, without the high sugar load. There are no essential carbohydrates. Zero. We do not need them to thrive. This is a fact, Michael Pollen, that you rage against with no evidence to back you up.
Eat them for the sheer enjoyment and variety if you are blessed with high quality fruits and vegs. If not, relish the months they're in season, like we did before all this nonsense started; drive out to rural farm stands if you don't have a local farmers market. (Ours doesn't sell local produce - go figure.) Don't settle for less.
11
Jrb, that's ridiculous. Your idea that fruits are loaded with sugars, compared to what I might ask, is absurd when you compare them to every other carbohydrate. If carbohydrates were truly not necessary to human nutrition, we wouldn't be able to digest them in the first place.
Your assertion that fruits have little or no nutritive value reveals a tremendous ignorance of biochemistry and nutrition.
4
Twenty inches of snow tends to limit local produce except watercress which happily grew in the frigid water under ice in the steams of my childhood. Heating a greenhouse is pricey when it is 30 degrees. So perhaps these stats should reflect growth seasons.
My friend who owns a very large NY state orchard is having trouble getting visas for her Jamaican pickers. A small business Trump does not care about it appears.
6
Wait...you mean Americans are not lining up for those jobs? I thought the Trump administration told us they would limit foreign worker visas to open up job opportunities for all the hard-working Americans?
Most apples consumed in Mexico come from the US and we love it, they are better. Is that a good thing? Yes! What do you know, the advantages of trade!
8
No. The fact is that your apples are kept at artificially low prices that make our domestic market dependent on them. Their true cost is hidden in every respect economically, politically, and environmentally. We will all pay for it eventually, you most of all.
Your cheap fruit has made it nearly impossible to maintain domestic production here, and has drastically altered our economy and not for the better.
1
Big problem is food inspection or there lack of. Not enough agents or random overseas inspections of any of it. Prepare for more e coli. Wash your produce as if your life depended on it because it does.
6
trump does not eat fruit or veggies, so who cares.
13
Does this reflect the winter months when we cannot grow many fruits and vegetables?
1
The fact is that until as recently as 30 years ago, we grew and raised the vast majority of the food we ate. In winter, oranges, grapes and salad veggies came from Florida and California, bananas, pineapples and other tropical fruits from Hawaii and Puerto Rico, we had keeping apples all winter (still do in some regions like my home state). Nobody did without. Nobody got scurvy. We didn't have a trade imbalance over food imports like we do now.
That all changed in the 90s, and now we don't grow a good deal of our own food because artificially cheap import knocked the bottom out of our domestic markets, and smaller farmers couldn't compete. So those guys are all out of business, and food imports are a contributor to our trade imbalance.
2
I will not eat fruit and vegetables from other countries. If you can't drink the water in Mexico how can you eat the crops that feed those plants? I am a believer that they are not as safe to eat.
8
Uh ... plant roots take up water, they don't take up germs. e Cpli in irrigation water is not going to get into the plants being watered. At worst. you might get some water splashes on the outside of the fruit or vegetable that might be infectious for a bit.
you might feel differently if you tested the water in the irrigation ditches in the Salinas valley.
1
Especially the heavy water absorbent melons. They're awful tasting!
1
Having a robust domestic food supply is a national security issue. Reading this article has prompted me to join a CSA (community supported agriculture) group this year, so that at least from June through October, most of our produce will be locally supplied. During the rest of the year, I search for domestically grown produce in my local grocery. Depending on international trade for the country's food supply is stupid and short-sighted.
29
Most imported fruits and veggies are full of toxins, pesticides, herbicides and naturally occurring arsenic . There is some speculation that the surge in neurological (ADHA) disorders in children is from the damage caused by all the chemicals in our environment today.The developing brain is extremely sensitive to toxins.
If you want healthy kids, eat organic USDA and in season.
Also this is food? no its cardboard, no taste and full of chemicals to preserve its appearance on its long ,long journey from field to store. Just toxic garbage.
4
I find it hard to believe that Avocados are being imported when there are thousands and thousands of Avocado trees all over the hill sides of southern California just north of San Diego.
9
California can only meet 10% of the demand for avocados in the U.S.
America's fresh fruit options is abysmal--it's always the same staples (it's always apples, oranges, bananas, and grapes) and because they've been so genetically selected for growth, or color, or not to look bruised, etc. that the tastes are just incredibly bland. One, there are so many fruits out there in the world. Sure, you can find them in certain select stores--dragon fruit, lychees, guava, jack fruit etc. (I personally have never seen mangosteens for sale in the US)--but there're only a few to select from and the prices are astronomical. America's variety of fresh fruit is a joke compared to Asia's.
Two, for anyone who's had fresh fruit--picked from a bush or picked from a tree and is already close to ripe, the tastes are incredible. I almost never buy mangos in the US anymore, they have no taste. When you go to places like Indonesia and you try their mangos, or bananas, you know exactly what's lacking from our fruits--flavor.
Lastly, we should promote innovative ways to have more efficient farming in the US, particularly closer to large urban areas, to reduce the environmental footprint of shipping things from afar. It seems like hydroponics should be greater utilized and we should be finding other ways to reduce our level of import.
7
The downside of hydroponic and other greenhouse growing is energy use. It makes little sense to grow stuff near cities if fossil fuel has to be burned to do it.
Canada does a lot of hydroponic growing because it has ready sources of non-polluting hydroelectric power. Canadian winter cucumbers are great.
4
Bananas left to ripen on the plant taste terrible. One wants to pick them green and then let them ripen ... that's how people do it all over the world.
1
Maybe American farmers should start growing things for the domestic market and stop shipping so much overseas. No comment here on how that has effected farmers in other countries. Maybe they’ve increased their shipping to us to off set those coming in from the USA. This article is much too one sided. It is never so black and white as Trumpies seem to think.
4
Our farmers can't compete with the artificially low prices of foreign imports. They've either gone out of business and been bought up by big corporations, or they turned to farming more expensive, non-staple crops like almonds and wine grapes which are all highly exportable.
2
This is a direct consequence of the Trump administration's and their rural voters' hostility towards immigrant farm labor. Many farmers in California have abandoned growing fruits and vegetables since ICE has raided their farms and deported their workers. They grow olives and almonds instead since these crops are much less labor intensive. Rural white Americans will not replace these workers, they are too old, obese and simply don't want to do this very hard work. But they watch gleefully when ICE pulls apart families and deports their breadwinners.
15
Wow. Quite the article. I haven’t seen so much use of weasel words and phrases in a long time.
No evidence
Significant decrease
Availability outweighs...
Not enough to justify avoiding ( that would be, the near 10% violation of our pesticide residue standards)
Benefits better established than harm
No published scientific studies have addressed this topic (fraudulent organic labeling)
Remain unclear (cartel influence on quality...)
On balance
Difficult to conclusively determine
No successful connecting of dots
I marvel at this journalistic adventure into local v. Imported fruits and veggies. Especially the vote-with-our-dollars, and the insight that global trade helps keep domestic prices down, to say nothing of our increased ability to pay. Whatever planet this writer lives on, I’m pretty sure he’ll win some sort of journalism award.
5
All the availability and environmental costs aside, I worry that 30-40 years from now we’ll be in the same place with fruits and vegetables that we were with gas during the 1970’s shortage. As water becomes more of a problem worldwide we risk foreign exporters embracing the “my country first” philosophy. Sound familiar?
4
Nothing can compare with the variety of lovely lettuces I grow every winter in my garden. I go out with a basket, and pick a few leaves from several different plants- deep reds and greens, and bright chartreuse, the shapes as different as the colors, as beautiful as they are delicious. Now if only it were possible to have home grown tomatoes, ripened on the vine in season at the same time as the lettuce!
1
It's great that you live in a climate that allows you to have a year-round growing season for cold-weather crops. For those of us who live farther north, though, this isn't an option.
3
As we in New England stare out of our frozen windows at over 2 feet of snow and without electrical power. Gale force winds and more intermittent snow showers happening today.
2
I hope that even with large scale importing of vegetables and fruit, people will still buy local produce when it's available. I didn't learn to love fresh fruit and vegetables until I moved to California and discovered how amazing peaches, apricots, plums, strawberries, and citrus, to name only a few, can be when they're in season, ripe, and freshly picked. Even apples are so much better when they're in season that I'd almost rather do without them than eat the stored ones from the supermarket.
8
Consumers expect to be able to buy all the different fruits and vegetables at all times of the year. When some of us were young, we didn't see blueberries in January nor asparagus in September. Those that are not in season, have to grow somewhere. That somewhere is frequently the southern hemisphere. (When I arrived in Santiago, Chile, my luggage was X-rayed on the way out of the airport to make sure we didn't bring any fruits or vegetables that could contaminate their crops.) We are also, all looking for bargains at the grocery store and other countries costs are less than ours.
It's simply a matter of choice. The produce is clearly labeled. If you prefer to eat only produce from the US then choose those products, but the variety will be limited. When the local produce comes into the store, we can all partake of fresh fruits and vegetables and support our local farmers.
4
On our farm in upstate NY in the 50s we had abundant "asparagus in September".
1
No surprise there. And I can buy wonderful tomatoes at my farmer's market up until mid-October in Jackson Heights.
After late October? Go to the best canned tomatoes.
1
I try to eat what is in season, primarily (although occasionally I am seduced by strawberries in winter). And, living in Pennsylvania, lettuces over the winter are certainly not local but widely available in grocery stores. Nothing can induce me to eat a tomato in the winter - might as well eat a broom handle. I was distressed, though, that during a two-week trip to Florida last month, I never found one single Florida orange to buy, despite lots of trips to farm stands and grocery stores. I heard that Sunkist bought all the orchards, and now I believe it.
5
I was disappointed in this article. The statement that imported produce does not have a greater risk of foodborn diseases from a lawyer in Seattle ( I'm a lawyer - no shot against lawyers) didn't address irrigation systems with fecal contamination found in parts of Mexico or Guatemala. It stated that the quality of produce is the same and can even be better but China dries its tea leaves by driving trucks over them and Chinese garlic has a lot less flavor than California garlic. This article didn't really delve into any of issues - I'm still going to go carefully through the produce department and I will pick US produce most of the time-
24
This strikes me as much more of a national security issue than steel or 5G technology. When a nation doesn't have food, that's a very basic problem.
19
The U.S. has lots of food. It's just that people didn't used to expect to be able to eat fresh produce out of season. Now people expect to be able to eat absolutely anything throughout the entire year. The also expect a superabundance of everything.
1
The transportation technology today is geared toward delaying the ripening process--not simply maintaining temperature control and keeping the product fresh. The atmosphere itself is managed within a container. Produce is a living metabolizing item. Management of oxygen (decreased) and carbon dioxide (increased) slows down the life process, delaying ripening and increasing the shelf life. in many cases the transit time in refrigeration exceeds the incubation period of pests, eliminating the possibility of carrying a pest into our commerce.
Todays technology has opened many markets to us, allowing affordable ocean transportation to prosper along with air transportation. It is no wonder that we now import and export as much produce as we do.
3
The anti-sugar crowd says that most fruit is harmful. Eat root vegetables in the winter.
1
Sugar is not harmful in natural foods, which have bulk so that we don't consume too much. It is very harmful when consumed beyond a safe threshold, and that happens only with *added* sugars and fruit juice. But we've been eating fruit since we had tails and lived in trees; it's a natural and healthful part of our diet.
7
Carrots and beets are loaded with sugar. Yams too.
5
When we buy a head of garlic imported from China in our local grocery store, the carbon footprint is ridiculously huge. Nearly 7,000 miles by ship, but how many truck rides to storage facilities and warehouses did it make in china? After docking in America, how many truck rides (some foods in refrigerated trucks) did it make to how many warehouses here before it ended up in your home, maybe to be eventually be thrown away for lack of use. When you buy shrimp in the store, it's probably from Asia, although American fishers have no shortage here.
I check where the produce comes from before buying, it may be better to buy frozen blueberries for you oatmeal in the winter if it's from an American farm, it just make the local ones so much sweeter when they're back in season.
22
And Chinese garlic is terrible-- it sprouts and spoils quickly.
Many larger farming operations have partnered with foreign operations as a way of geographic risk diversification. Local is Best but what happens when a local pest devastates an entire fruit like the glossy winged sharpshooter in Temecula in the 1990’s? Geographic risk diversification also protects against the impact of global climate change on agriculture. What grows well in a region in 2018 may struggle in 2038.
Geographic risk diversification is what made farmers angry at the prospect of the ill-conceived Trump Border Adustment Tax.
What American food and fiber has going for it is quality control - both private and as required by federal laws. Food safety is hugely important. One e.coli outbreak in lettuce can sink a company. And federal and state protection of waterways and the environment enhances not only the safety of the produce but the taste.
When I choose produce, I give preference to produce grown locally, regionally, nationally in that order because I know what the food safety standards are. If no domestic product is available, I look for foreign produce sold by American operators because those companies do not want to ship questionable produce.
And, yes, I am willing to pay a little more.
And, yes, the migrant work force that helps plant, care for and harvest is essential to American agriculture. Figure out a way to both have secure borders and have a migrant work force that is treated humanely and paid fairly.
12
Application of pesticides on all crops grown in the U.S. is carefully regulated by the U.S. government with the help of States, including how they are applied and how much can be applied. The U.S. government inspects crops coming into this country for illegal pesticide residues but the application of pesticides is controlled by the individual country. In addition, only a small percent of imported crops are inspected. A 9.7% violation rate for vegetables is too high in my mind and might be higher with the low inspection rate. The consumer is faced with difficult choices.
11
"Application of pesticides on all crops grown in the U.S. is carefully regulated by the U.S. government"
Dennis, I wish it were so. Regulation is very spotty and violations are the norm rather than the exception.
And if the US pesticides don't get you, the weedicides will.
3
"Increasingly, however, scientific studies have found that trade agreements and resulting increased produce shipments may have contributed to the movement of invasive species into the United States."
Duh.
So -- high levels of pesticides, invasive species, and produce that is often so old as to be inedible (with a few exceptions, such as Mexican berries).
It's a real boon, I tell you.
5
I can remember the good old days - fresh vegetables from the garden in summer (even though I hated shelling the peas), but for the other ten months it was meat and potatoes (good domestically produced products) with canned or frozen vegetables.
But I'm quite happy to now have fresh veggies year round, even if they may not be quite as fresh as the straight from the garden summertime stuff back then.
8
Please include plenty of New Zealand Gala apples which you will findy both crunchy and tasty.
Would someone explain the economics of tomatoes from Canada? Tomatoes are long-day, hot weather plants-- not exactly a description of Canada's climate. The tomatoes from Canada are greenhouse grown which means there is a very large energy input for heat and artificial light. Yet these tomatoes are priced competitively or are cheaper then US grown tomatoes. How is this possible?
14
I have never understood why more produce isn't grown commercially in the South where I live. We can grow tomatoes until the cows come home (or until they trample them in the garden) but we don't seem to have any large-scale vegetable growing operations here. My guess is the price and availability of cheap labor, which is why California produces so much of our vegetables. Down here, we have a lot of people without jobs but no one willing to work at the back-breaking job of picking vegetables for cheap wages.
29
How do you know there's no one willing to work those jobs if you say there are no farms for them to work?
4
Heating greenhouses is NOT expensive—there is a lot of solar gain, many use alternative energy sources. What IS expensive is cooling systems for hot-summer states. That is why the greenhouse tomato industry is located in Maine, upper NY state, and Ontario. It makes economic sense. Visit one of these greenhouses: the systems are amazing, producing from the same plant for months (remember tomatoes are indeterminate) on vines 20 ft tall that are grown on pulley systems. The really good growers pick red not green, so the tomatoes are actually vine ripened.
8
Indeed, if you go back to basics, certainly controlling where our food comes from is more fundamentally important than controlling where our steel comes from. The statistics are very interesting, and are what people in Washington should be studying, rather than the "chaos circus" in town at present. For example, the chart showing percentage of fresh produce grown outside of the US in 2016 makes me wonder if the top 5 items could be grown in Puerto Rico, and solve a multitude of issues. Sadly, the present administration doesn't realize that Puerto Rico is part of the United States....
As an aside, here in the UK we now can buy Red Delicious apples (usually at 78 cents a piece), sometimes from Washington State and sometimes from Italy. We've stopped buying the Italian ones and only buy them when we can get the Washington produce; the Italian ones are squishy and have less flavor. Maybe Brexit will make Washington applies appear in UK supermarkets more often....
5
So the UK is where all those Washington State red delicious apples are going. Many US groceries have quit stocking red delicious because Americans prefer other varieties like Fuji and Gala. And OMG Honeycrisps! I thought the British Isles were prime apple growing country. Maybe local orchardists should look into these.
2
You are not an apple person.
Amongst apple people Red Delicious are at the bottom of the apple barrel.
England has very tasty local varieties of apples. I urge you to try some.
1
Aside from all the health concerns of eating out-of-season produce grown outside the U.S., it is dangerous to rely on food sources beyond the borders. Much of the produce in supermarkets is now tasteless, mainly because it's shipped unripe. Looks over taste = $. It also seems a ridiculous game to send our produce overseas and receive (the same varieties) from somewhere else in the world simply to raise prices. Eating locally is a great idea. It's also a great idea not to develop farmlands into suburbs.
13
The U.S. has long underinvested in the agricultural research needed to maintain competitive horticultural industries. There is only one dedicated Federal research opportunity to hort crops, the "Speciality Crop Research Initiative". Who knew that the crop species which compose the backbone to a diversified human diet are "specialty"? Fewer Federal research dollars coupled with declining state support for state universities charged with supporting agricultureally resulted in local industries being outcompeted.
6
I agree Max, the public has to WANT to invest in the public research needed to help fruits and vegetables grow well in a lot of different U.S. landscapes. But the public perceives abundance so it isn't much of a priority.
1
Yes, this is where we're going. Fish, produce, TV's, cars, etc etc etc. With a bit of sorrow I too submit to the global economy.
Just keep your hands off my peaches. Peaches.
We need tariffs on imported fruit to protect American farm workers! Hmmm, wait a minute ...
Part of TPP included Western South America for its produce, beef, jewelry, ores, etc. When Trump kicked out TPP, these countries immediately turned to China and China became the largest investor in countries like Peru, its first purchase fisheries for the fertilizer. Now a new TPP is in place sans the US. China has yet to be asked to join but it remains the largest importer which means less of everything for us, including produce. The shift to foreign produce was due to climate change and now the fear of illegal immigrants to come up to the South/Florida and California, doing jobs Caucasians would never touch. The issue of tariffs could balloon, too, so less produce. But that's Trump and America Last.
4
Apples and some berries are about the only edible fruits we have on offer. I grew up in Puerto Rico, then eating domestic oranges and bananas. I can't remember the last time I purchased or ate a FL or CA orange; like peaches and pears, they are flavorless and hard as rocks (I live in Massachusetts, far away from Georgia peaches.) For the record, I don't eat imported oranges, either. I will happily eat them when I am abroad.
If we want to eat fresh fruit and vegetables, they must be imported, given that most of our country has a limited growing season. There is more to life than parsnips and carrots, although frozen spinach has become a staple, given the difficulty of finding fresh spinach, ever (as has been replaced by kale).
2
It is nearly the end of the season, but you need to purchase Cara Cara and heirloom oranges from California. They are sweet, full of flavor, and they travel well.
2
Not sure what you are getting on the East Coast but our oranges this year at the Farmers Market in San Francisco have been super sweet. Particularly the Sumo oranges.
2
Congrats to the NYT for an outstanding article with solid research and coverage. And the absence of political diatribe is commendable. It shows clearly, that international trade, while disrupting to some, generally benefits many.
4
Now I want a fresh peach.
Just 5 months to go until they’re back.
5
My diet of fresh fruits and vegetables has taken a serious drop in consumption. When I chance to purchase i find I have returned home with tasteless produce. Most so flavorless that I toss out more than I use.
Recently, I picked up 5 Cara Cara oranges at the local Hannaford's. Cost: $6.50. Sadly, they were bitter. And why have grapes been grown to the size of a plum? Red seedless grapes were once a regular item on my shopping list...it's been months since I considered buying any. I could go on about other varieties.
And I am sick and tired of baby salad stuff. Whatever happened to real spinach? And arugula with snap & spiciness? Bland garbage!
15
Enjoy it while you can, because it’s an unsustainable system.
6
I tried eating in season, but it became a choice of my picky kids eating fruits and vegetables or not. My kids health won that one.
I’m sure we will be finding more global produce at our grocery stores in the future. Keep kicking those immigrants picking the produce out & we shall see.
On the other end, the trend in my neighborhood is to turn lawns into “farms” There are about a dozen or so “farmlettes”. They get volunteers to go on swarm rides to help pick the produce.
Local greens with Mexican avocados is staple in my house.
2
Not too bad a situation. You should try living here in Canada where, if we had to depend year-round on domestically grown fruit & vegetables we’d be eating pine-cones & snow-balls right now!
25
I thought near the Pacific coast you could grow produce year around. A friend of mine lives in Victoria and tells me he grows his own produce year round. Yes, I am talking about Victoria in Canada.
1
This is the type of trade agreements that the Trump administration is trying to fix. Previous appointed government trade representatives were mostly academics, who were not prepared to deal with agressive poorer country representatives in making agreements. The American farmers were shafted.
1
Trump shafts American farmers big time by having ICE raid their farm workers and pulling apart American families by deporting their breadwinners, throwing them into poverty. Many farmers in the Central Valley already have changed crops from fruit and vegetables to almonds and olives since they are less labor intensive. Rural Americans cannot replace these workers, they are too old, obese and don't want to do this hard work.
2
I'm not sure about this, but does a country that can't or is unwilling to grow its own food and feed itself seems to be slightly out of touch with reality? Honestly? It reminds me of when I used to spoon-feed my daughter in her high chair because she couldn't, you know, feed herself. Why is importing all our food seem like a rationally good idea to seemingly intelligent people at all? It sounds like a dependency. The funny thing is, I happen to live in a county that grows the finest avocados in the world--bar none--CalAvo. Worth their weight in gold. Hundreds of thousands of trees withing driving distance. One would think one could find said avocados in the local produce isles, but no. They're shipped elsewhere--all over the world! To the finest restaurants in Dubai or London, New York, Brooklyn for god sake, and elsewhere. The avocados sold here are shipped from Mexico even though I could drive 15 minutes and pick myself one--hopefully without getting shot.The same for a number of fruits and vegetables. Grown here--sent elsewhere. Why?
59
Lol, that's funny. When I lived in Idaho I had the same problem with potatoes: couldn't find a decent one in a grocery or small market. When I mentioned this, jokingly, to my native Idahoan peers, I was told with all seriousness that this was true and known by all. The only way to get really good potatoes was to either grow one's own, work for a local potato farmer (get my pay in spuds?), or to - yes - order them online and have them shipped to me. From Idaho to...Idaho.
Makes complete sense, eh?
@Tee Jones: "[My] county grows the finest avocados ...Worth their weight in gold. ...They're shipped [...] to the finest restaurants in Dubai or London, New York, Brooklyn... WHY??"
Because those restaurants are willing to pay "their weight in gold" but your own neighbors would rather buy the cheapest avocados available and spend their money on other things than food.
The great question of our time: climate change. How much carbon is released transporting food great distances? Is that accounted for?
7
The Gala apples you receive from New Zealand are definitely a superior product and your continued purchase of them helps our balance of trade. However, I, steadfastly, refuse to buy US oranges (although I will buy Australian ones) or any other foodstuff produced outside NZ unless we don't grow it here. That goes for Italian and Asian tinned tomatoes (at less than half the retail price of local ones) dairy goods from anywhere, Chinese pork (how could we?) Dutch frozen mashed potatoes and Asian fish (caught in our own waters.) I do continue to buy the New York Times however, which has been my daily newspaper since 1996, and which I consider to be the best daily newspaper in the world, although its quality has dropped over the last two years because of the high Trump content. My buying pattern is driven by my aversion to the unbridled capitalism which drives globalisation and which is so wasteful of all natural resources including local labour.
12
I wonder what has the bigger carbon footprint- fruits and vegetables from other countries or beef, pork, etc?
4
I suspect that's a no-brainer: pigs and cattle probably win that comparison by a country mile (never mind the methane that they produce).
1
Mixed feelings. Probably most importantly, raspberries from Chile and grapes from South Africa are environmental abominations. (I sometimes buy them anyway.) But for me, the main issue is taste. Imported out of season fruits and vegetables are not only expensive, they taste like cardboard. Anyone in Germany who's ever eaten a Spanish or a Moroccan strawberry in March or April knows what I'm talking about. Flavorless. Nothing in the world tastes better than a local German strawberry picked in June.
6
Eat seasonally, as Michael Pollan and wise people suggest, including my great-grandma. Buy from local farmers. You don't need an orange in January to get your vitamin C - learn about nutrition if you want to be healthy. I grow a lot of berries, freeze them, and make smoothies all winter. The Native Americans here in NH made a tea of pine needles - plenty of C there and that's what I give my goats in winter. Just the needles, not the tea. Can't grow things yourself? Go to a good food coop or grocery and look for frozen produce/fruit grown here. Ask questions! Educate yourself! Buy American! Garden if you have even a small patch of yard. If you rent, ask permission and keep it neat. Share your surplus. Give, and it will be given.
And yes, importing tons of fruit, using lots of oil to schlep it around - bad idea, for the consumer and the environment. Duh. Huge taste difference, as anyone who eats real food can tell you. And how do you know what chemicals are really being used, how the workers are treated, and who is making money?
And remember - there will be a lot of spurious arguments telling you that all that fruit flown half the world to get to you is somehow wonderful for you, for the world, for that poor guy packing it in a box. No, no, no. That is money talking - because lots and lots of money is being made. Wise up, people. Educate yourself. Do for yourself. Take responsibility for yourself, your health, and your environment - the foundation of all health.
16
Is the gain of foreign over domestic origin of our food just a consequence of the rise in the corporate dominance of our food distribution?
9
Yes.
4
How ironic, for any one who has lived and worked in developing markets of Asia knows, the lower prices are accompanied with low environmental standards, low compliance with poorly crafted food sanitation, and massive over use of pesticides and herbicides. You eat Asian fruits or vegetables you better scrub and hope the residual chemicals and metals do not build up too quickly.
14
Living near Chinatown in NYC has been a blessing. It made me change my way of cooking and I've adapted to the strange seasonality that appears periodically on the stalls. (Oro blanco grapefuit anyone?) But the question I have, also prompted by most comments here that produce in AMerican supermarkets (whether local or imported) taste so consistently "like their packaging"? WHich is not the experience I have in Chinatown: first hint that something was different was when I saw one early morning a vendor selecting a random box from a 3-feet high stack and taste a kiwi. This simple action made me wonder whether Produce managers in US supermarkets actually taste what they receive before putting them in the aisles. (And do they even have a decently developed sense of taste?) Then I realized that the fierce competition of vendors selling produce all over Chinatown was incentive enough to make sure what they sell actually tastes good. A Wall Street Journal reporter wrote a book about the fact that produce in Chinatown is of superior quality and at rock-bottom prices. The main point is that Chinatown vendors have their own suppliers and bypass a lot of intermediaries. Chinatown also offers amazing range of fruit and veggies that other supermarkets never sell: daikon, celtuce, garlic stems, eringe mushrooms, and the fruit is consistently ripe, sweet, often because it seems Chinese stores buy second choice, which actually might be an added benefit for price and taste.
4
We have relied on workers with marginal incomes and no power to produce food, as well as nonagricultural products, here and across the globe.
Food prices are artificially low here - and I think it is a necessary part of keeping underpaid Americans - all the ones who have lost ground as we change to a technologically advanced economy - less desperate than they would be if prices reflected actual growing costs in this country.
A long view of the value of our ag. resources would take in mind the disastrous effects of global warning - and increasing periods of drought - around the world - which are going to leave many countries desperate. It should encourage us in the US to appreciate what we have and consider how best to preserve our resources.
I buy some foreign produce; I do not for a moment believe that other countries are enforcing organic rules. AS for China -- China is the country which a short time ago was allowing their own children to be poisoned by contaminated infant formula. Our OWN inspections are inadequate - does ANYONE trust China?
Values, economics, labor rules, the growth of an oligarchy --they all affect the price and availability of fruits and veggies.
8
Also, don't forget the lessons of Venezuela and Puerto Rico where agriculture production was displaced by what-seemed-to-be better ventures. Now, they wish they had it back, and they've lost much of the know-how to do so.
1
Union Square market in NYC offers a wide variety of fresh produce, meats and fish. On Saturday mornings, it's super crowded and a very popular place to meet friends. In the fall, the vendors have the best apples.
We have our own apple trees, plum trees, and raspberry bushes. We are planting blueberry bushes this spring. We have a small vegetable garden to eat fresh during growing season and freeze what we can for later. Our butternut squash feed us all winter. That said, we also buy produce. my thoughts are that if we depend so massively on imported foods, what will those who don't have the advantages that I have to grow food do when there is a massive trade disruption due to war, storms, or failed crops. Do those people just stop eating?
It is important for us to support our local and national food growers, for our own health and survivability.
8
And whose suburban gardens are they going to raid to delay their families starving? Even the survivalists amongst us are not well enough prepared. I write this the day after the death of Stephen Hawking who originally predicted that the human race would be extinct within 1000 years unless we went to the stars. Hawking recently reduced that estimate to 100 years. More recently, he's been suggesting even sooner. The predictions of dozens of science fiction writers are fast approaching and most people's perceptions are stuck in the "same old." No leaders in their right minds would allow their food supply to be dominated by imports but your leader isn't, is he? Mine aren't too bad but are still mesmerised by free market international thinking. Elon Musk, Al Gore and the late Stephen Hawking have been on the right track but even as the New York Times comments on their thoughts the world continues on its genetically pre-ordained way. Sad. So very, very sad.
Having just retired from the University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, our biggest concern was food safety for imported food. Our experts go to foreign countries to examine how fish and produce is farmed to be sure it is safe for the American consumer. They have assisted many growers. Much progress has been made in the last 20 years. I feel confident most imported food from reputable grocery stores is safe. But from the environmental point of view, it is still best to eat local food in season first.
2
We've been part of a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) for over 5 years. I'd say we get 85% of our vegetables locally. We eat seasonally: lettuces in May, tomatoes in July, butternut squash at Thanksgiving and storage cabbage, parsnips, carrots and turnips through the winter. I'm sure eating this way is a tiny part of the national story, but it's an important one that supports our local economy and ecology.
13
I enjoy eating fresh fruit all year long. When it is winter here it is summer in Chile. Fresh fruit from Chile does not compete with fruit grown here.
"In spring, newly harvested Gala apples from New Zealand may be crunchier than the same variety from American orchards, which were picked the previous fall." Maybe I missed it, but does the US export it's Galas to New Zealand?
1
Shall we go the way of Venezuela, which produces little and imports a lot? IDK
1
I've been reading about hydroponically grown vegetables being grown in cities. Verticle arrays of plantings with LED lights used to replace sunlight. I'm wondering if this, new type of farming will reduce costs and help bring fresher produce to local stores and restaurants?
2
Electricity [for LEDs and pumping fertilizers] cost dollars and is generated from fossil fuels. The sun shines for free in the winter in Central America and Mexico.
2
While I was in Italy last year, I stayed in a little rural town, and the local grocers had fresh fruit - ripened on the tree and still had fresh leaves attached to it - fresh fruit - and it was so delicious, so satisfying, so enjoyable to eat. I really wish we could have this in the USA. I barely buy any fruit here.
5
It is not a bad thing if it is done fairly.
We cannot compete with de facto slave labor.
I don't see Canada as a problem, but certainly Vietnam, Mexico and other such countries.
Fair, non onerous tariffs should be considered on these countries to give our farmers, industries a level playing field.
Then let the most efficient country get the contract.
The idea is to bring these countries up to our level of working conditions and wages and not to bring us down to de facto criminal practices.
3
It's funny, in a sad, sad Trumpian kind of way that our President faints with concern over the national security implications of steel, tin, and tech imports.
Economic sectors that made the decision decades ago to operate overseas to escape American taxes.
But the man has no inkling of possible implications of being 90% dependent on an unfriendly world (Trump, again) for our food. And, into the bargain, these policies are creating very nearly mono-culture among the crops we do manage to export.
In the meantime, Republicans and Wall Street spend billions a year inundating us with images of wholesome family farms and their apparently upper middle class farmers. The very people they seek to beat into the soil.
26
I don't mind imported produce. It makes fresh produce available and affordable to not just the wealthy. People forget that truly "local" food in some places would mean only pickled/canned/frozen (that's only if the area is fertile). And while some people can afford the double prices of locally grown vegetables and fruit, there's a large part of the population where that represents a ridiculous proportion of their income.
My parents keep a garden and while I appreciate the vegetables that come out of the garden, they keep it because they like gardening, not because of the exceptional flavors or nutrients. Usually, the home grown vegetables taste about as good as those bought in stores. Of course, we cook everything, so perhaps there's a starker difference with raw vegetables.
I do have to say our home grown plums and grapes are much better than store bought ones though. They're juicier and have a richer flavor. However, the loss of flavor is acceptable compromise in order to eat fruit in the winter. Sure, it's a treat, but it's a treat that's been made available by import but would otherwise be impossible without a plane ticket.
Worries about the slight improvement of taste or possible nutrition in local versus imported products is a luxury of those who would be able to afford food either way and have finer palates than me. I'm not saying those with the means not buy local, but don't minimize the importance of having import produce
6
What about simply eating in season local produce? Mankind is at risk through global warming, and food in the broad sense is the no 1 culprit (see www.drawdown.org for scientific quantification). It is no rocket science to understand that if we would add the true carbon costs of food transport or growing off season produce locally in greenhouses then our wallet would vote to do exactly that: eat in season local produce. By the way, this includes a simple lettuce that we consume in winter by habit. So, until our governing bodies create a carbon tax, it is our individual responsibility to act now for the future of humanity. We can turn this into a positive: instead of thinking we are giving up some comfort, let's rediscover the forgotten taste of our grandparents' food.
22
Maybe if you live in Florida, in season local produce works, in Minnesota not so much. I garden and there are certain foods, like asparagus, strawberries and raspberries that I only eat in season because what I produce is so much better than anything I can buy in the stores. However, I can't do without salads for at least five or six months.
4
Because if one stuck to in season local produce, one's winter vegetable diet would consist of potatoes, turnips, onions and perhaps carrots. Nothing green. I grew up in Appalachia where on of the most anticipated signs of spring was the appearance around this time of year of a wild leek known as ramps (now considered a haute cuisine item among chefs). The primary reason for this was that ramps were the first green vegetable available after a long winter of eating only root cellar tolerant vegetables.
12
Peter, You may live in a beautiful hamlet in Switzerland with a plump bank account, but millions of humans need to grow food and sell it or starve.
Some day when technology allows humans to harvest the sun for all energy needs your worries will go away.
Right now we don't have that technology. But we do have a hungry child in a poor country.
Let it Grow.
2
Comparative advantage, as classic economist once said -- if we can get our fresh fruit from other nations at affordable prices, so be it. We can then use our capital/labor for other endeavors for the benefit of us and them.
4
I am surprised when I hear people whine about all imported produce because their experiences don't reflect mine.
I consider anything within 300 miles of my home to be local. That includes my entire state, but it also includes the entire Willamette Valley and much of lower British Columbia. In fact, many BC farms (hydroponic, organic and conventional) can not only truly be considered local but are also closer to me than farms in neighboring states. Produce from a variety of Lower Mainland farms is legally trucked across the border for markets here just like our product is legally trucked across the border to help feed them.
I also rely on frozen items for produce that had either short or limited growing seasons. I buy frozen local organic berries, stone fruit, asparagus, and other vegetables and use them during the dark months (November through February).
4
"...fruit may suffer from transport." Wow, has our reporter said a mouthful with that one. Yes, Mr. Pollan, "it's easy to criticize food that comes from far away," mostly because it deserves the criticism.
The notion that one is not losing nutritional value as well as taste if it takes the fruit/vegetable a week or longer to get to your produce point of purchase is nonsense. And anyone, certainly anyone growing fruits and vegetables, knows that -- as does Mr. Pollan. What it isn't is "fresh" produce.
Consume good canned vegetables and frozen fruit when out of season. I'd bet Mr. Pollan the best dinner in NYC that either would win the nutritional and the blindfold taste test in the lab.
12
A country so vast and with such a variety of growing climates and seasons imports the majority of its fresh produce. Admittedly, I find that a bit bizarre. Living in Europe, our supermarket chains go in a similar direction. However, seasonal produce is still considered a highlight and is generally produced locally. Certainly in Austria, local fruit and vegetables are the gold standard during the summer months. Some produce, such as tomatoes and peppers, are imported mainly from Spain or Southern Italy in winter (to a lesser extent also in summer). But comparing the distance to importing to New York from Chile, that still doesn't seem so crass. I have noticed though the popularity of berries here in Austria as well. Personally, I find it very bizarre to buy a small plastic tray with 10 raspberries from Chile (imported to Austria!). I don't usually buy them. For me, exotic fruit such as Mango or pineapple is a rare treat perhaps for a Sunday dessert. I enjoy the special flavor, and appreciate it as something rare rather than an everyday food that has traveled for thousands of miles.
19
Our predatory, looting, and exploiting ways are on a crescendo to collapse. Sorry to be so stark about it, but unless we take stock there will be a series of reckonings. Perhaps they will come in small and multiple rather than large and global, but they are already under way. Whether the human dominance of nature ends with a whimper or with a bang, I doubt we have the intelligence or the fortitude to stop getting more and more stuff. I doubt we know what our waste is doing to the earth, water, and air.
Being responsible within the community and working together to solve problems might seem less interesting than addicting on your phone or the collective scream that lasts are few seconds, but it is infinitely more rewarding.
I continue to hope for common sense, because we must get wise to ourselves, but history shows that we will denude our world before we give up our materialistic excesses.
Local food should not just be a fashion, but a practice of life that rewards us not only physically but spiritually.
40
Yawn. Produce in America, regardless of origin, began to taste no better than its packaging many years ago. If you want taste with your fruits and vegetables, you better grow your own. Even in California's Central Valley, what you buy at most supermarkets is good only for providing color on your plate. If you live near a good farmers' market your prospects are somewhat better. Twenty years ago, I tasted the flavorful delights of real fruits and vegetables in France, then sadly returned to the virtually inedible produce of America. Since then, my fruits and vegetables have mostly come from the frozen food aisle and are eaten strictly for nutritional value.
41
The soil in the Central Valley sadly has been depleted and over-sprayed. I find it shocking to travel past the orchards and see little growing under the trees. Bless the Farmer's markets. Organic farms have the flavor.
http://www.yourcentralvalley.com/news/special-report-extreme-erosion/257...
http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2016EGUGA..18..728S
http://www.ehn.org/in_california_salt_taints_soil_threatening_food_secur...
http://calag.ucanr.edu/Archive/?article=ca.v054n02p49
21
California grows more fruits and vegetables than any other state in the union. Since the hurricanes in Texas and Florida last season impacted their respective citrus crops and unfortunately future hurricanes may continue to do so, California will continue to be the nation's fruit and vegetable basket. That also includes nuts, like almonds, but they require water. Farmers are learning to use less water, but the need is great. Cali also grows a lot of avocados, but the California Avocado Commission's rules are a lot stricter regarding what size avos can be sold, & anything dropped on the ground cannot be sold. Do you think that applies abroad? As for continued demand for fruits not in season, we now live in a global community and must have a global --- not an insular outlook.
6
Most of fresh fruit that one can buy in food stores, except for Apple's, are tasteless, because they are underripe. The country of the eaters of hamburgers-with-ketchup does not produce decent fruit.
13
Coming up: Trump justifies tariff on foreign vegetables and fruit which compete with Red State crops on national security grounds.
12
haha what? The oranges and apples and strawberries in my local market came from the US. Because of drought issues, a lot of the avocados from Mexico :( Fortunately there were still some from California.
Maybe it has to do with more fruits in regions that normally would not see them? Like Michigan and Iowa seeing strawberries in February.
1
I’m surprised that give the otherwise well-rounded ness of the article there is no mention of field workers rights, or perhaps more importantly, their health given their extensive exposure to pesticides (in non-organic farms, US and abroad).
29
I came home from the Farmers Market today with a chicken and a basket of just picked produce grown by people I greet by their first name. I wish Kathy Means was sitting in my kitchen tonight over a bowl of the fragrant soup I made. She might begin to realize what we are abandoning. It isn't just about miles. It is about the flexibility and diversity that small scale agriculture can afford to bring to market and large scale farms cannot. This is not even mentioning the loss of understanding of seasons, of our relationship to the earth and to the people who grow our food, the general loss of vibrancy of the available ingredients. My favorite strawberry grower was at the market today, and I asked him if he would have Chandlers this year. He shook his head no. "The commercial nurseries have pretty much abandoned them altogether," he said. "I couldn't get plants. I'll be growing Seascape. It's pretty good, and it stores better." Yes but it lacks the rich juiciness, the perfect sweet-acid balance, the concentrated strawberryness of Chandler. It makes me terribly sad that most American kids today have never tasted something so simple as a truly amazing strawberry, a plum that squirted sweet juice all over their shirt, a peach that smelled like heaven.
To quote Joni Mitchell, "Don't it always seem to go That you don't know what you've got 'til it's gone?" We are sacrificing so much for the sake of storage and convenience, and we won't even know it till the small farms are gone.
81
Please, no fruit on shirts or tops!
2
Most of the produce what little of it that is sold in the local "farmers" markets here is shipped in from elsewhere, not grown locally. Most of the "Farmers Markets" around here are filled with useless geegaws, candles, soap, and flowers flown in from tropical countries.
There are virtually no small or local farms in the US anymore, big ag took over because it was much much more efficient, and no one wanted to work a farm as an individual, long back breaking hours, and the randomness of profit based on the weather and insects drove most family farms out of business. No one wanted to inherit a life that was brutal, often short, far away from education, medical attention, or any variety of culture. So the children of farmers moved to the cities to get a slice of the good life...
1
Doesn’t Pollan and others read those little stickers on fruits and veggies that declare country of origin? Their lack of awareness scares me more. Worse are all the organics from overseas where regulations are less stringent.
14
I agree. If Michael Pollan was surprised about the increasing amount of imported produce, then I think he doesn't visit grocery stores in person. This trend has been going on for years. Avocados, for instance, have been coming mostly from Mexico for years now.
5
I have learned a bit about sugar consumption and how detrimental it is to our bodies, causing obesity and metabolic diseases. Turns out the sugar in fruits and honey are fructose, which turns into fat and gets stored in our liver. We used to eat fruits 2 - 3 months a year--when they came into season. Now, as the article says, we have fruits all year round. This is not healthy eating. Honey was eaten very rarely and accompanied by several bee stings. Now, honey is readily available in jars and people say its better than eating sugar. I advocate eating seasonally, grow whatever you can at home (even on balconies in apartment buildings), and eating less of everything. Fruits are not healthy to eat year round. Vegetables in season promotes an appreciation of changes in the diet. You become in tune to Nature, community, health, and seasonal availabilities, i.e., connected to place.
9
"Fruits are not healthy to eat year round..." may be true if you live in northern climes... I do tend t o agree with the locavore philosophy and movement, but there are climates (the closer you get to the equator) where the harvest of fresh food is natural nearly to all year round.
4
I think there is more to worry about with the sugar and HFCS added to food than the sugar in fruit. Generally, if you eat the actual fruit, you eat a normal serving, and get lots of fiber too. It is much different than eating processed "food" with added sugars.
12
There's an old story about pineapples in England being seen as a status symbol. You wouldn't even eat them but rather have them around to show others you were wealthy enough to have them.
I'm glad that people have access to fresh fruits and vegetables more so than ever before. The joy of trying new foods and fruits is unparalleled. However I am concerned about the environmental impact of keeping certain fresh foods year round when you can just as easily have them if you wait some months.
I'm gonna stick to my organic seasonal fruits and veggies as much as I can. Thankfully my local store labels where they come from. Perhaps the new status symbol is allowing yourself to eat in tune with your seasons.
34
Not that I fault you in any way, but being able to eat organic is the real status symbol, as organic fruits and vegetables cost significantly more and can be difficult for may to afford.
4
Until you have to live in a northern climate like most of the country, where the only seasonal fruits and veggies in the winter are the squash, potatoes and carrots that you put away in the fall. Not a well rounded diet, and not at all fun to eat.
“'It’s easy to criticize food that comes from far away,' Mr. Pollan said. 'But if the question is whether this is good for your health or not, in general it is.'”
That is a very short-sighted assumption, ignoring completely the fact that money spent in the USA on fruits and vegetables generally stays in the USA (bolsters economy), and pays the bills for American farmers.
We are a land of not just plenty, but of excess. Perhaps that would not be so bad if the money to buy all that excess simply continued to change hands over and over again in the US, but it does not. I don't mean to suggest that we should be isolationist or anything like that, and in fact, I take advantage of organic offerings that come from outside of the USA. Yet, my buying habits are greatly dictated by how well my local year-round farmers' market stocks my fridge, and while I'm sure I'd enjoy strawberries in October, I am also well aware that is not their season in the US, i.e., I am able to resist the urge to consume anything I want simply because I can purchase it.
Bluntly said, if we do not take care of most of our own agricultural needs, we may find ourselves in some serious hot water down the road. Those groceries stuffed with too much of everything have ruined us all quite nicely; that abundance and cheap costs could vanish in a short time, and if we've few farmers left, things could get ugly quick.
Buy local. Buy seasonally. Think. Cheaper is not always better either.
100
Pollan has forgotten that produce picked overseas is less likely to be as fresh, hence nutrients leached out of the system or just unripe. Don’t underestimate the nutrional value of food picked and frozen at the point of origin.
10
Part of the problem is that in the US, the farms that grow corn, soybeans and grain are supported by subsidies. Much of this is exported. The farms that grow the food we eat- fruit and veg- are not supported, and are considered "specialty farms"
.... "defines specialty crops as “fruits and vegetables, tree nuts, dried fruits, horticulture, and nursery crops".
https://www.ams.usda.gov/services/grants/scbgp/specialty-crop
In my opinion, the small farms that grow food are the ones that need our support and encouragement/patronage. Locally grown food also has the added value of not being part of monoculture- it will likely be a variety that is better adapted to local conditions, and supports biodiversity.
34
We've got to start keeping our seafood within our country. We're exporting almost all of it and importing farm grown fish and shrimp from far away. This farm grown seafood is grown and harvested under dubious conditions including highly toxic water. Why are we sending our wonderful salmon to China and importing farm grown from Asia instead? Keep our seafood here. I hate this trade. Read the labels at the grocery store on seafood packaging. None of it is US or wild caught. Same with the seafood department. Sending the best away and feeding ourselves with what should be pet food. Actually I don't even think it is suitable for them.
128
The answer is simple: money. Most Americans are not willing to pay much for food if they have to cook it, so our high quality seafood goes to people who are willing to pay for quality, while we eat the fish sticks. We get our food dirt cheap, but we make up for it with staggering health costs. Doesn't take an advanced medical degree to spot the relationship.
35
Sadly many of our fisheries are decimated- as are fisheries all over the world. Over-fishing, ocean warming and pollution have taken their toll. Invasive, non-native species have also damaged our fishing grounds. Read, Cod: A Biography of the Fish that Changed the World by Mark Kurlansky. It's mind boggling how many Cod there used to be- you could fish with your hands- and how many there aren't now. The Great Lakes, are also completely changed because of introduced and hitchhiker species.
People just want fish and seafood. They don't care where it comes from or how policies impact US fishing grounds. Did anyone notice any shortage of shrimp after Deepwater Horizon polluted the Gulf? No, suppliers bought shrimp from the Philippines or somewhere else. Nobody notices.
5
You don't have wild caught Alaskan salmon on your local shelves?
1
I wonder what role climate change has had in the decline in N. American produce/rise in imports. For the last several years, peach farmers in the East and Eastern Midwest in particular have been hit by spring weather extremes just when the trees are budding: frost-bitten buds = fewer peaches, and too early temperature rises make not so great fruit in the traditional peach regions. Michigan peaches (Michigan!) are suddenly great while southern peaches go mealy -- and forget about getting an edible peach from CA out here: they won't ripen at home, go straight from tasteless and hard to tasteless and mushy. Anecdotally, I had several varieties of citrus grown in FL shipped to me this winter, and about half were flavorless compared to last year's crop (which are usually AMAZING; grocery oranges can't compete). The orange co-op cited the hurricanes and crazy cold weather as factors.
9
Terrific article, and I'd be interested in knowing more. I remember lots of drives through California's Central Valley, 30 to 40 years ago, where you would see a kaleidoscope of fruits and other crops being grown: citrus, nuts, onions, cherries, peaches. Now when I drive all I see are two things: almonds and pistachios--in near monocultures. I do know that NAFTA allowed the US to rip the almond market away from Europe, and their have been similar developments in the pistachio market--but does this account for less profitable fruits being grown in other countries? Thanks for reporting on this!
55
A recent visit shows orchards being pulled out -- acres of dead trees -- and grape vines taking their places.
5
True here too--Places that used to grow wheat (including winter wheat) now grow wine grapes. Sometimes it's competition between wine grapes and hops (most hops in US beer come from here). Because of the money, growing intoxicants overrule growing food.
So far the fruit trees are mostly safe, but I wonder how long that will last...
5
I’ll drink to that!
I came across fresh figs from Mexico this week...that’s something new. A common complaint from local farmers has been a lack of people to harvest produce,due to our brilliant new immigration policy.
52
Wonder how many of these farmers voted for Trump?
Where ?? Figs are my absolute favorite. We used to grow them in queens and even after the birds had their fill there was always enough for the family.
Oranges were relegated to Christmas treats when my mother was so child during the Depression. I can still sometimes be amazed by the winter fruit selection at my grocery store. Prices are often a bargain, but what happens to both the price and availability - avocados? - if the executive branch wants another distraction and decides to impose tarriffs?
15
Frozen fruit, grown domestically, is often the better choice in winter. I can't believe anyone buys those tasteless berries that come in clamshell plastic from South America. Sometimes I wonder if people have forgotten what fruit is supposed to taste like. WA state apples and domestic citrus are good choices in winter too.
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Washington state apples might be ok in Washington, but they are terrible in the rest of the country. Local in season apples are excellent. The apples that come from New Zealand in the spring are also very good.
Local in season berries, peaches, plums. cherries, etc. are also great.
19
There are probably a very good peaches in Georgia but I have not bought any in Minnesota for years - what we get in shops here is tasteless. I guess this covers Washington apples as well. Contrary to your article I buy less fresh fruit or veggies because they just look like a real food but have no taste. I do stick to something that still has a predictable taste (cabbage? potatoes?) but a lot is lost, like fresh tomatoes. And yes, avocados seem to keep the taste even - but what do I know how real avocado can taste like? I can’t just have it in my garden.
4
Buy WA apples in season. That helps.
Plus Americans tend to like way-too-sweet (to me) apples and so that is what is mostly grown here.
3
I highly recommend a CSA membership to those who are interested. It's a great way to eat seasonally and support local agriculture.
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I'm not crazy about the idea that my fruit cup is better traveled than I am.
In the US, we pay less for food than any people in the history of the modern world. Yet, in a quest for ever cheaper (read imported) products, we risk the health of our agricultural economy. If the past year had taught us anything, it is that governments can rapidly alter their trade policy. What happens when South American nations opt not to trade with us?
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susan - your opening sentence alone is reason enough to make your comment a NYT Pick. Funniest and best line I've read in a long time. And the rest of your comment is spot on. Thanks for making me laugh and think at the same time.
6
As spring approaches, I am finding less fruit (and veggies) from Peru, Chile, Ecuador, Honduras and Mexico. In California where I live, -purchasing off-season fruit has been something I shun: Buying Cantaloupe in December and January will come with the aroma and taste of pesticides. Peaches and Nectarines are still in the stores; Southern Hemisphere fruits are to be shunned at all costs.
America- though, exports our fruits, veggies and nuts to other nations. I can only imagine what they must taste like- off season- to the locals.
7
In a typical year in our yard we grow granny apples, jonathan apples, blueberries, strawberries, garlic, onions, okra, watermelons, several varieties of hot peppers, cucumbers, green beans, grapes, pumpkins, corn, acorn squash, crookneck squash, plus lots and lots of tomatoes, and herbs. We live on a .08 acre lot with limited sunshine. And it still leaves room for grassy yard for the kids to play in and bbq/fire pit area for the adults. While we still buy most of our produce over the course of the year and we don't shy away from imports; about 1/3 of produce is it about as local as you can get. And the stuff we grow at home taste so much better their their in store counterparts. After the initial setup (including irrigation if you live in most of the west) a home produce garden isn't a lot of work. If you have a yard, you should grow food.
78
When can we come visit, learn, sample?
1
Thanks for this informative article. It's timely because just the other day, while grocery shopping at Whole Foods, I marveled at how lucky we are to have fresh fruit readily available in Colorado...in March!! The only problem I have is with the large papayas from Mexico (I think). They often get over-ripe in the stores because people are unfamiliar with them. Somehow, the stores need to post information signs on non-indigenous fruits so buyers get educated.
5
Let me add that ultimately fruit is food and requires irrigation to produce. Yes, it does come from somewhere and where I live, we know because it is our economy and wish our Governor would make that simple connection. Food and available fresh water ard a National Security concern. Unfortunately his priority is a fish that grows to approximately 2 inches long. Every indigenous fish in the state is 2 inches long at some phase of the life cycle. When did all this become more important than food?
1
Because it is a fish that only grows two inches long and it’s demise would be the elimination of a species whose contribution to the health of the environment is not understood.
1