Grocery store tomatoes: Are they actually any good?

Morgan Williams4 said:The stuff they mass-produce for farmers' markets is basically the same junk you find in big-box retailers. I guess the only difference is that suppliers can't always guarantee a steady flow to the giant malls, so they dump it at the local stands instead—then wholesalers swoop in to flip it. Besides, it feels like those classic old ladies who used to shop at the stalls have pretty much vanished from the scene.

I guess I agree.
It’s all the same stock, coming from the same places, probably loaded with antibiotics anyway.

My old man grows tomatoes and he sprays them like there's no tomorrow 😬
but at least he actually follows the instructions to a T
I don't get how people act like it's some sin, when without it, we'd all be starving 👍

@slygull92/">@@slygull92 couldn't agree more
my mom loves buying those local artisanal cheeses, but I passed on them once I saw the lady's fingernails 🤮 I highly doubt she knows the basic concept of washing her hands after using the restroom 😬 meanwhile, Tillamook has that organic certification 🙂

slygull92 said:The tomatoes you pick up from some "local grandma" at the farmer's market are actually the least healthy things you can buy. Believe me.
American small-scale farmers—especially those old-timers—hardly understand modern production tech. They just dump as much fertilizer as possible to make everything look "vibrant and green." They spray pesticides haphazardly, picking whatever they think will work based on what a neighbor uses or what some semi-literate clerk at a local feed store suggests.
I’ve actually been out there and seen the process firsthand. No thanks!

Produce in big-box retailers comes from controlled environments managed by professionals. It undergoes standardized quality checks and meets specific nutritional norms. All these conspiracy theories about hormones and fish genes are just fairy tales for children and an uneducated public that doesn't grasp the basics of agricultural science or biochemistry.

This applies to everything, including the "fresh" cheese and cream you find at those roadside stands.
When I saw the conditions where that cheese was being made—the barns, cows standing knee-deep in filth, flies swarming the kitchen... honestly, it made my stomach turn. Since then, I stick exclusively to brands like Tillamook. At least I know it was produced under hygienic conditions.

You've written an enviable amount of nonsense here. You see, I happen to have a few buddies working in mass-produced, "controlled" vegetable farming, and I've seen how that really works.

Go ahead, keep eating your "controlled" food full of god-knows-what. I'd rather head to my own garden for a tomato.

slygull92 said:...and regarding this "pesticide" talk, you think grandmas don't spray their gardens? Except they have zero clue about dosage or timing, unlike actual production technologists.
Try growing vegetables in your own yard without spraying a single thing or using any fertilizer, then see how much high-quality food you actually get to eat...

Nothing in my garden gets sprayed.
Not the tomatoes, nor the lettuce, onions, peppers, herbs, beans, or potatoes...
Same goes for the apples and cherries in my orchard...
Sure, the yields aren't massive. I toss what rots. I pick slugs and snails by hand. There are worms in the apples and cherries...
True, my produce won't sit on a shelf forever looking like plastic...
It’s just like what you’d find at a local farmers market...
And it doesn't look perfect...
But the taste? Incredible.
I'm not growing for profit; I'm growing for myself.
And I have plenty. All year round.
I don't buy it.
The idea that strawberries are a must-have in February is a lie.
I eat mine in May. Mine.
And I fertilize everything with nothing but organic rabbit manure.

I forgot to mention one more thing:
I grow almost all my own seeds and seedlings.

I’ve just gotta ask: why on earth is everything so incredibly overpriced these days?

darkbadger132 said:Polog is just asking one thing: why was every single person on the list flagged?

And there’s his answer.

nimblegull23 said:I don't get how people don't realize we'd all be starving without pesticides.👍

😂

nimblegull23 said:I honestly don't get how people fail to realize we’d all be starving without pesticides.

🤣 You have to wonder... how did our ancestors manage to survive? They grew everything in their own backyard—completely organic—and clearly, they lived long enough to pass things down, otherwise, we wouldn't even be here! Look at the proof: my grandmother eats exclusively from her garden without a single drop of chemicals... she’s 84 and still full of life. My husband’s grandmother is 86, and she follows the exact same routine—straight from the soil to the table. So why bother with the sprays? It feels like this was all pushed by big agribusinesses looking to maximize profits... there’s no rot, nothing goes to waste, everything hits the shelves, and they make a fortune while essentially poisoning the public. Let's just stop the spraying already so we can all eat something healthy! 👍

tomatoes in big-box stores are straight garbage—honestly, everything they sell is trash, which is exactly why they’re big-box stores... they just grab whatever's cheapest at the bottom of the barrel.

I honestly find it hard to wrap my head around the fact that, even now in the 21st century, there are still people out there clinging to such incredibly primitive ways of thinking...

Morgan Williams4 said:That Walmart fresh cheese? It’s basically made from cows standing knee-deep in sludge, producing milk so nasty you could grow flies on it—except they pump it full of all sorts of preservatives like E330 and God knows what else just to trick you into thinking it's "fresh." If you ask me, I'd rather eat organic manure than some lab-grown poison. Nobody ever caught cancer from eating stuff straight from a farm, but these artificial additives? They're killing people everywhere!

And don't even get me started on the tomatoes you see in big-box grocery stores. They treat those things with every chemical under the sun. Look, if you actually grew something naturally, there's no way every single tomato would look like a plastic model—they wouldn't all be identical clones. Same goes for apples. An apple isn't truly good unless there's a worm in it. Because trust me, a worm isn't going to touch fruit that's soaked in toxins!!! So, you guys decide: do you want the real deal with a few bugs, or those "perfect" apples grown in some sterile, chemically-controlled lab environment?!!!

👍 👍 🙏 🙏 🙏

- That tomato you see in big-box stores like Walmart? It’s greenhouse stuff. Totally controlled environments. That's why it looks so perfect, I guess.
- If an apple doesn't have worms, maybe it was sprayed. But honestly, for every one person complaining that their apple isn't "fleshy" enough, there are ten others who would call the FDA and health inspectors the second they found a worm in their fruit.
- People were dying of cancer long before this, they just didn't know what was causing it. If you look at old records, cancer was around even back in Ancient Egypt.
- Regarding all that spraying talk... about ten years ago, the well water out in rural farmland wasn't even drinkable because of all the nitrates and chemical runoff from fertilizers and pesticides. So much for people saying they're being careful out there.
- You know those little roadside stands? Half the time they're just buying produce from places like Target and then marking up the price. Do people seriously think some 60-year-old lady is lugging 30 lbs of fresh tomatoes to her stand every single day? She doesn't have a crew to move the stock, and she definitely doesn't have 50 acres of farmland behind her house.

- Just try growing something like carrots without using any pesticides... you'll be full very quickly.😉
- Oh, and yeah, people weren't really starving to death fifty years ago... sure, but maybe ask them what they actually ate back then.

Kyle Nelson2 said:- ...

- Try growing some vegetables yourself—carrots, whatever—without all the pesticides and junk. You'll actually get full. 😉
- And yeah, people weren't starving to death fifty years ago... No, they weren't. But try asking them what they actually ate.

I am telling you one more time: I grow EVERY single vegetable in my OWN garden without any pesticides, slug killers, fungicides, insecticides, or any other chemical crap. Even carrots. I grow plenty—too much, honestly. I have enough left over for canning and giving away. Believe me, it’s enough food.
Save the fairy tales about "controlled organic farming" and healthy produce being sold at grocery chains or farmers' markets for someone else.
Go ask the people working those aisles what they’re really doing to that fruit and veg.

You want to know how they keep lettuce looking fresh?
You don't?
They spray it with antifreeze!

SIC!

Just a thought...
The other day I picked up some tomatoes at Walmart.
At the exact same time, my boyfriend brought home these gorgeous apples from the farmer's market—because let's be real, everything at a market is supposed to be better, right?

We sliced them open—and man, those market ones? Total disaster. Tasteless, mealy, mushy... just a mess.
But the ones from Walmart? Actually delicious. Juicy, bright red, perfect little green stems—honestly, perfection.

Chris Gomez3 said:I grow ALL my veggies in my OWN garden without any pesticides, slug killers, fungicides, or anything else—even carrots! I grow more than enough (actually, way too much, so I stock up for winter and share the extra), and trust me, it’s delicious.

Way to go! 😁

But why are you only looking at things from your own perspective? You're growing just for yourself, so of course you wouldn't want to mess with your soil using chemicals. If you were growing crops to sell and actually making a living from it, I bet your methods would shift a little bit.

There are so many people out there who don't grow their own fruits and veggies because they simply can't for all sorts of reasons, so they have to rely on buying what others produce.
Do you really think those tiny handful of farm stands at the local farmers' market operate that way? I wouldn't say so!
Plus, most of what we get at the grocery store comes from large-scale operations, even if they tell their kids and workers stories about how they all hand-tilled and weeded everything themselves while singing lullabies.

jadesailor14 said:Good for you 😁

But why are you only speaking from your own perspective? You’re planting just for yourself, so of course you aren't going to exhaust yourself. If you were planting to sell and actually live off the profit, I bet your whole approach would shift slightly.

There are plenty of people who don't grow their own fruits and vegetables because they can't, for various reasons, even if they wanted to. They are stuck buying what others grow.
Do you think that's how that tiny percentage of elderly women selling produce at the local farmers' market operate? I wouldn't say so.
Besides, most of those supplies come from elsewhere, yet they swear to their kids and grandkids that they dug every bit up and weeded every row themselves while singing them lullabies.

Look,
I am speaking from my own experience because I am explaining my specific situation.
I get it—not everyone can grow their own food. But I also know that many people who don't grow anything certainly could if they put in even a modicum of effort.
How many backyards sit untended?
How many fields lie fallow?
When I talk to people who neglect their property, they give me the same old excuse: it "isn't worth it" to work the land, even just for their own use.
Well, if it isn't worth it, fine. Go buy industrial junk then!
My brother-in-law is the perfect example: he lives in the country, owns land, but it's a total mess.
He even buys his lettuce at the store.
On the other hand, I don't do this because it's a financial windfall; I do it for health reasons. Plus, I'm tied to that garden. I have to dig, my hands stay dirty, and I can't just walk away whenever I feel like it.
When the heatwaves hit, you all were out at the pool, while I was out weeding and tilling the soil...
Sure, if you look at pure convenience, it's much easier to just head to Target or Walmart and grab some tomatoes than to grow them yourself...
Not to mention dealing with hazards like storms, frost, or heavy rain...

Chris Gomez3 said:While everyone else was out hitting the beach during the heatwave, I was stuck outside weeding and digging up my garden...
...

Not everyone 😬
Choosing to dig is your call
Just like how living on the fourth floor of an apartment building with a ten-hour workday is my choice, which means I can't exactly grow tomatoes right now

The only thing isn't a "choice" is being physically unable to do the digging

jadesailor14 said:Not everyone is 😬
digging is your choice
just like living on the fourth floor and working ten-hour shifts is my choice, so I can't be planting tomatoes

The only thing that isn't a choice is being physically unable to dig

Listen,
my workday averages nine hours too...
And I have a family...
And I play sports...
And I read a ton...

And I find time for everything...

And you've got those local farmers at the market selling the exact same stuff they stock in the big-box stores...