In article >,
gloria.p > wrote:
>Charlotte L. Blackmer wrote:
>> In article >,
>> Ranée at Arabian Knits > wrote:
>>> In article >,
>>> (Charlotte L. Blackmer) wrote:
>>>
>
>>>>> The best CA strawberries never leave the state. One can find them at
>>>>> farmers markets. The aroma alone can make you aware that they are
>>>>> there...
>>>> So true about the best ones not leaving the state. And I always go by
>>>> smell, not color.
>>> I think that is true about all local produce. The best stuff doesn't
>>> ship as well at its peak. That's just reality, so if you can't get
>>> local, you're already getting second best most of the time.
>
>
>That's an interesting statement because I've often heard the opposite:
>
>"We don't get good yxz because the best quality is all shipped out for a
>better price. We get the seconds/inferior quality."
Interesting. Where have you heard that from?
I grew up in California's Central Valley. Good produce made its way to
farmstands and the grocers that were fussy about their produce, but I can
tell you that a lot of the real field-fresh/vine/tree-ripe stuff went
straight to the processing plants to be canned or (later) frozen.
Mind you, I live in Berkeley, where the truck farmers all truck their
stuff because they get top dollar at our farmer's and specialty markets.
It does not get the same price in the heart of the farmland, but you can
still find pretty damn good stuff. You can't find it at every grocery -
I recall the Lucky's in Davis having rock-hard tomatoes in the middle of
July in the midst of the local tomato harvest - but it's very findable.
My parents live in deepest suburbia in Sacramento County, in a place that
was orchards and farmlands when my dad was in high school. There is still
one good farmstand left and one of the local grocers is picky about
produce. Mom grew up in the farmland north of Sacramento and worked the
cannery during summers, and she only buys produce at farmstands or at
Raley's.
Charlotte
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