Question about fruit & vegetables at Supermarkets & Streetmarkets.

[kristina]

Has anyone noticed any difference in the fruit and vegetables
bought at a big Supermarket and those bought at an open market like a street-market?

I have observed that the fruit goes-off more quickly with supermarket fresh produce.
I have no idea why this should be. The Supermarket fresh produce seems to go bad,
underneath the skin or in the centre (apples, pears), but the outside still looks perfectly OK.

Does Supermarket produce come from an entirely different source, or is it kept differently,
than the fresh produce which goes to market and is bought by the market-people to sell on their stalls?

Thank you, Kristina.

[kitkatz]

Most supermarkets have wax on the fruit, so it as an outer sheen, but the inside goes out quicker.

[tyefly]

Here's the deal with supermarket fruit and veggies.....  they are bought from large companies that produce big supplies.... and the fruit and veggies are kept for long periods of time in Cold Storage....( CA)  they are kept at temperatures that keep them from ripening...  and yes wax is often used to help slow down the ripening... like a sealer...help keep the air and other forces out to keep them from riping....  then when the supermarket needs a order to fill their selves they bring it out of Cold storage and place them in the supermarket for sale to the general public.....  when the fruit warms up and starts to mature  or ripen because of the temperates in the supermarket they will often start riping from the inside ....  often time these products are many months old.... that how we have so many varieties of fruits and veggies for us to buy.....  Farmer market stuff is fresh   but seasonal....  I am all for farmers market stuff.... but at the Farmer market level you don't have the safety inspection for  e. coli or pesticides that we do in the big supermarkets.....  usually that is not a problem....   I guess the best way to get quality fruits and veggies    esp veggies is to grow our own.... which anyone can do in pots, small green house , in your back yard or patio.....  there are often local community gardens where you can get your own garden bed and grow your own too....   Many options......

[BigSky]

Those bought in an open market are usually fresh.


Supermarkets deal with mass demand of goods by consumers year round.  So depending on growing season and the exact type of product, said product may actually be harvested and sitting for several months in a climate controlled warehouse for several weeks or months before being transferred to the supermarkets.

Other facts or certain items are they may be out of growing season and therefore are shipped in from other countries which also cuts down on freshness factor.

Here its really bad with apples.  Havent had a truly fresh apple in a long time.  The ones we get are months old and while they look good on the outside, they are mealy and mushy on the inside because of sitting in warehouses for so long.

[kristina]

Thanks for these very interesting answers.
I hadn’t thought of this, and if that is what they do
I can appreciate that in this unnatural environment
(have an artificial coating & being stored in an unnatural environment etc.),
it is no wonder the fresh produce deteriorates so quickly.

Added to which we don’t know whether the fruit for example
even contains substances which have been absorbed from the chemicals
used by growers to both feed and protect the fruit.

So, I can understand that if the fruit has a coating and is unable to act naturally
with its environment it might well deteriorate overly quickly.

Thanks again.

[KICKSTART]

You do have 2 other options ..buy Organic or find a local farm shop, veg especially is fresh and grown locally and tastes far better than supermarket rubbish !

[kristina]

Thanks very much for these great answers, it is all news to me
and I had no idea Supermarkets do business in this way.

I just had another thought,
does anyone think the organic fresh produce in Supermarkets is any better quality?

I am asking all these questions to be as kind as possible to my struggling kidneys.

Thanks, Kristina.