There is a whooooooooooole lotta venting here......%$#@ YEARS ago, we were all informed - by all the media - that we were soon going to have genetically altered foods. Produce was ALL genetically altered from the get-go. Tomatoes would have fish oil injected, weel, you got the picture. At first, it was shocking, but, since the world is growing so fast, they needed to have longer shelf-life for the items.
So - tomatoes LOOK like tomatoes - they do not smell, taste or feel like tomatoes; like all of the other items - green peppers? 4-GET-about it. BUT_______we have to shop at WM - and bought a few fruits TWO DAYS AGO and they are as fuzzy as can be. SO! Makes me wonder - why do we really have genetically altered foods?? Goes back to grow your own from heirloom seeds - they are the purest and allow us to really TASTE what we are eating!---------------WHEW! I am done - sorry to rant............................... :oops:

I agree with you. My mother grew alot of her own vegetables when I was growing up and it spoilt me. I cannot stand the taste of shop bought tomatoes or zucchini, so when we bought our own house the first thing we did was put in a vegetable garden. It's not all that big, but in summer it gives us a great supply of fresh vegetables that have not had any chemical sprays used on them. My kids love to go down to the vegie patch and pick fresh beans and peas, not many make it to the table but you couldn't have any fresher or anything better for them. I try to buy and fruit and vegies from our farmers market rather than the big supermarkets as it tastes so much better. We have since added a couple of chickens and we sometime make our own pasta from their eggs, the colour is fantastic. I hope I am passing on a love of real food to my children so they in turn can pass it on to theirs.

We (humans) have been genetically modifying our plant and animal foods, through selective breeding for thousands of years. Basically since we decided to live in cities and start growing crops instead of foraging for what grows wild.

Your fruit went bad most likely because it's been sitting around the store you purchased it for a long time - or on a truck or loading dock. Or in the back of the store where it wasn't refrigerated.

There is nothing like going out, picking your own vegetables and fruits, then eating them. I fixed roasted vegetables the Tuesday. Potatoes, squash and grape tomatoes from the garden, they were great. Toss in a nice marinated cucumber salad, YUM. The corn, beans, peas, peppers, onions, and okra will be in soon. I can't wait.

I know exactly what you mean. Fruit and veggies from the store are also picked green and "ripened" with gas. A lot of the fruits that we grew up with, like peaches, didn't or don't stand up to shipping, so they don't grow them anymore. If you want decent tasting fruits and veggies, I guess you have to grow them yourselves or find someone who does.

I saw a program the other day that explained that the tomatoes were genetically altered (hybrids) to have thicker skin and to be harder so they don't squish in transport. I put all the tomatoes I buy on the windowsill and wait a few days. Usually, they'll become softer, redder and sweeter. Don't know about bell peppers because I don't eat them. As for the fruit. We've had that problem but I believed it's because we've moved to the high desert and getting good fruit here is almost impossible. However, later I bought some fruit at a different store that lasted for over a week. I'd talk to the manager of the store where you shop and explain you're unhappy with the shelf life of their fruit. Or do like I did, search out another store. The first year here, our local store tried to sell yellow summer squash for $.79 a lb (it was $.10 a lb where I came from). The squash they were selling was old, wrinkled and should have been in the garbage bin. I talked to the produce guy, then the manager and got the same story...."gee, is there something wrong with it?". I quit shopping at that store.

This is why I do most of my shopping at a near by farm They even raise gras fed beed, chickens, turkeys, pork. a long with vegies and fruits.

We have a garden, too. I do not like weeding it, but I do enjoy the veggies.

I can't have a garden where I live but my DM has one and I got some fresh chili pepper this morn. Gonna make a pot of chili beans today. I wish we could have a garden because I would have everything growing in it. I prefer fresh veggies.

cjomomma, do you have room for a few large pots? I grow my lettuce and spinachin pots, for less weeds. I know people whohave alot in pots.....just have to water alot more!