An Open Letter to Major Supermarkets - Why Is Your Fruit So Awful?
Dear Major Supermarkets,
I am fed up trying to buy fruit that is edible. The government tells me I need five portions of fruit or vegetables a day. For me this would be easy. For my grandson, this would be easy. We both love fruit and veg. If only I could buy some. Why is your fruit so awful?
My grandson is two. He loves nectarines, raspberries, strawberries, mangoes, kiwi fruit, apples, bananas.....the list goes on. I like to have a variety of fruit so that he can eat some whenever he fancies. I have tried your "ripen at home', they do not ripen. They shrivel and go mouldy but stay hard. I have tried the standard range and thrown them out because they are mouldy or go rotten before the sell by date. I have paid the premium for "ready to eat" or for "perfectly ripe" fruit, except it is neither ready to eat or perfectly ripe.
It is not ripe
It is hard
It is not juicy
It is rotten
It is a rip off
When I was young we would buy fruit in season from the green grocer - remember them? They were shops that sold fruit and veg. Wonky fruit and veg.
Ripe, juicy, delicious fruit and veg but you squeezed them out. I do not have a green grocer near me. They have all gone, to be replaced by your massive supermarkets that are open all hours but cannot sell a ripe peach or mango.
You give me guarantees that if produce I buy is not satisfactory you will refund my money. That is just not good enough. I plan my meals, I shop, I get it home to find the fruit is inedible.
I only wanted a fresh ripe mango to go with my pea shoots and Feta cheese to make a salad. I now have pea shoots and Feta, by the time I return the produce and find a ripe mango the pea shoots will be rotten, because they were already looking sad (and so had to be eaten on the day of purchase) even though the sell by date was three days hence.
I only wanted some peaches for my grandson. You described them as scrumptiously sweet, they were in fact hard tasteless lumps. I nearly bought some cherries at £11.11 a kilo. Yes, I would have paid that as he loves cherries but I can't afford to throw them away if they are not edible.
We get our five-a-day from apples, oranges and bananas. The only fruit I can be certain that will be edible.
All I want is delicious, ripe, juicy fruit that is in season. I don't want anything fancy. Just some plums, peaches, apricots...
Yours sincerely,
A disgruntled Grandmother.
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I don't know if you have farmer's markets in the UK but we have them here in the U.S and they are much better than the grocery stores. My town has a farmer's market in the spring and summer months once a week and its great to go there and get locally grown fruits and veggies that are afforable. I'm not a fan of the grocery stores either as every time I buy something from there the fruit seems to go bad within a couple of days. Supposedly they are getting better over here or at least some of the stores are trying to but farmer's markets are the way to go.
ReplyDeleteYou are so lucky, we do have farmers markets but they are usually once a month. We have a few market stalls in the town centre but thats a pain to get to and park, it's OK if you work in town.
DeleteI have stopped buying fruit from Tesco. I order online and they have been rubbish for having any in stock. When it does get delivered the strawberries are always nearly rotten and the bananas too green. We still have a lovely little fruit & veg shop in town and they are just perfect. x
ReplyDeleteWe have tried to support the small shops but they just can't compete and close down. I wish we had a decent green grocers nearby
DeleteRipen at home drives me nuts - they are always too hard and then all of a sudden they are mushy and mouldy! Worst idea is getting your fruit in an online shop - always better to see it i store I think!
ReplyDelete