Bananas Don't Taste Like They Used To. Here's Why • Hacker News Board

Re: Bananas Don't Taste Like They Used To. Here's Why

#41

Post by krisoft » Fri, Jul 19, 2024, 10:14 AM UTC

YeGoblynQueenne wrote: post #34

>> Consumers these days expect year-round availability of a product, which is consistent every time a person buys it, eats it, and cooks with it. It's like a fairy tale witch cursed us all for our greed: you will have any food you like any time you like it, but it will taste bland and boring and you will long for a taste you have never known. That's why people get so protective of their food culture, even their food…

> we'll all end up eating food that it is just nutritious enough to keep us from starving

That's not what the ongoing obesity epidemic shows.

Re: Bananas Don't Taste Like They Used To. Here's Why

#42

Post by blueflow » Fri, Jul 19, 2024, 10:14 AM UTC

nakeru wrote: post #38

noja wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Consumers these days expect year-round availability of a product, which is consistent every time a person buys it, eats it, and cooks with it. I am a consumer and do not expect year-round availability of fruit and vegetables.

"I don't fit in a generalisation therefore that generalisation is not true". At the same time, not sure we have the data to back up the original argument. Personal anecdata? People around do expect to find everything all year round, and they get mad if they don't.

"personal anecdata" or not, what he is saying is market demand. If you offer cavendish that taste like mashed potatoes, you won't see that persons money. Mine neither. Fact.

Re: Bananas Don't Taste Like They Used To. Here's Why

#43

Post by outime » Fri, Jul 19, 2024, 10:15 AM UTC

nakeru wrote: post #38

noja wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Consumers these days expect year-round availability of a product, which is consistent every time a person buys it, eats it, and cooks with it. I am a consumer and do not expect year-round availability of fruit and vegetables.

"I don't fit in a generalisation therefore that generalisation is not true". At the same time, not sure we have the data to back up the original argument. Personal anecdata? People around do expect to find everything all year round, and they get mad if they don't.

What are you supposed to say if you read a statement that includes you in a group you don't belong? That's why it's important to be more precise instead of saying "customers" in general.

Re: Bananas Don't Taste Like They Used To. Here's Why

#44

Post by Qluxzz » Fri, Jul 19, 2024, 10:31 AM UTC

supermatt wrote: post #39

As an aside - Europes largest producer of bananas is... Iceland.

That's an urban myth https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banana_production_in_Iceland

Re: Bananas Don't Taste Like They Used To. Here's Why

#45

Post by cafard » Fri, Jul 19, 2024, 10:35 AM UTC

noja wrote: post #36

YeGoblynQueenne wrote: post #34

>> Consumers these days expect year-round availability of a product, which is consistent every time a person buys it, eats it, and cooks with it. It's like a fairy tale witch cursed us all for our greed: you will have any food you like any time you like it, but it will taste bland and boring and you will long for a taste you have never known. That's why people get so protective of their food culture, even their food…

> Consumers these days expect year-round availability of a product, which is consistent every time a person buys it, eats it, and cooks with it. I am a consumer and do not expect year-round availability of fruit and vegetables.

An experiment: walk into a diner in mid-winter and ask for a BLT.

Re: Bananas Don't Taste Like They Used To. Here's Why

#46

Post by arghwhat » Fri, Jul 19, 2024, 10:54 AM UTC

YeGoblynQueenne wrote: post #34

>> Consumers these days expect year-round availability of a product, which is consistent every time a person buys it, eats it, and cooks with it. It's like a fairy tale witch cursed us all for our greed: you will have any food you like any time you like it, but it will taste bland and boring and you will long for a taste you have never known. That's why people get so protective of their food culture, even their food…

> we'll all end up eating food that it is just nutritious enough to keep us from starving

That's not a problem with "big food" - the food is far too nutritious and abundant. Sugary cereals for children and big macs can't be described at "just keeping us from starving".

We want restricted (but complete) nutrition that is just enough to keep us from starving, so that we maintain our size and don't end up with an energy abundance that causes processes like fat storage and inflammation to run wild.

Even outside "big food", the virtue of trying to maximize "tasty" means that our home cooking is also driven by food addiction - "big food"'s laser focus on this makes them much more effective in making addictive foods at the lowest cost, in turn making the healthier options seem "bland".

Our bodies and food reward systems are not geared for this abundance of concentrated nutrition.

It's only "good" if the tastier versions of food don't come with even more nutrition that we cannot handle. Carrots in their natural form are for example not at all as large, sweet and nutritious as the orange things we have now. They were bitter and bland.

Re: Bananas Don't Taste Like They Used To. Here's Why

#47

Post by outime » Fri, Jul 19, 2024, 11:10 AM UTC

krisoft wrote: post #41

YeGoblynQueenne wrote: post #34

>> Consumers these days expect year-round availability of a product, which is consistent every time a person buys it, eats it, and cooks with it. It's like a fairy tale witch cursed us all for our greed: you will have any food you like any time you like it, but it will taste bland and boring and you will long for a taste you have never known. That's why people get so protective of their food culture, even their food…

> we'll all end up eating food that it is just nutritious enough to keep us from starving That's not what the ongoing obesity epidemic shows.

Obese != well nourished. You can be obese yet have nutritional deficiencies that show in one way or another.

Re: Bananas Don't Taste Like They Used To. Here's Why

#48

Post by tweetle_beetle » Fri, Jul 19, 2024, 11:19 AM UTC

The article doesn't go far enough back in time to flesh out quite how absurd the Cavendish story is as a tale of exploitation. After centuries of generational wealth transfer in the Cavendish family, it was developed by gardeners working for a Duke who was sent some as a gift from the recently invaded colony of Mauritius (the British overthrowing previous French colonists).

They were grown in the middle of England in the largest greenhouse in the world (heated by 8 coal fired furnaces requiring so much fuel that a small railway was installed). It sat a few minutes walk from a house (one of 8 the Duke inherited), literally covered in gold so it would look nice during sunsets.

The bananas won a horticultural prize in London and were then shipped off around the world - setting the scene for where the article picks up.

Re: Bananas Don't Taste Like They Used To. Here's Why

#49

Post by simonblack » Fri, Jul 19, 2024, 12:04 PM UTC

fuzztester wrote: post #26

simonblack wrote: post #5

I recently bought a batch of six bananas from a local farmer's market - they were very fresh and very green and smaller, having just been picked. I let them ripen at home over the next 3 days. They tasted very much better than my usual rather tasteless supermarket-bought bananas. I'm going to try the exercise again tomorrow to check whether this was a one-off or not. After reading the article, I'm going to check with…

it is not a one-off. this is commonly done in India. in fact people even put a branch of bananas into a steel storage drum full of raw rice to help them to ripen. I don't know the science behind it.

Ripening fruit/veges give off ethylene oxide which causes further ripening.

If you trap that ethylene oxide by putting the fruit or veges in a closed plastic bag, they will ripen even faster.

Here in the tropics fruit ripens very quickly (chemical reactions proceed faster with increased temperature). I try to slow that down by keeping the stuff cold in the fridge. (But the fridge traps the EtO anyway!)

Re: Bananas Don't Taste Like They Used To. Here's Why

#50

Post by xnx » Fri, Jul 19, 2024, 12:34 PM UTC

YeGoblynQueenne wrote: post #34

>> Consumers these days expect year-round availability of a product, which is consistent every time a person buys it, eats it, and cooks with it. It's like a fairy tale witch cursed us all for our greed: you will have any food you like any time you like it, but it will taste bland and boring and you will long for a taste you have never known. That's why people get so protective of their food culture, even their food…

> it will taste bland and boring

There are plenty of examples of produce bred for color, size, and shelf-life over flavor (e.g. tomatoes). In general, the fruits and vegetables we have today are fantastically more delicious and edible than long ago. Watermelon might be the best example of this: https://www.vox.com/2015/7/28/9050469/watermelon-breeding-pa...