Vegetables don't get the respect they deserve

Even among fruit & vegetable eaters, edible plants don't get the respect they deserve.  Since they have no feelings - or at least that is what we human beings think - they fall outside the domain governed by morals and decency.  If an apple rolls off the table and hits the floor, the damage to its flesh is obvious and immediate: a soft, mushy, discolored spot at the point of impact.  Many folks would toss the marred fruit in the garbage without a second thought.  People who insist on washing the dirt off and cutting the bruise away to render it edible again risk being stigmatized as frugal.

The other thing that bothers me is the expectation that veggies should be cheap.  Even Americans of comfortable means (I'm talking about people earning six figure salaries) will complain about the price of produce.  They'll buy potatoes and salad greens in bulk at Costco only to have the dollars saved rot away in their refrigerator's crisper drawer after a week or two of neglect.

This morning at the gym, I overhead a conversation between two women which supports my argument.  One lady was talking about her love of vegetables and favorite ways to prepare kale and butternut squash.  When asked where she buys her produce, she replied that she shops at a local independently-owned market known for their cheap and abundant vegetables.  "I'd never buy celery for $2.19 a bunch at the supermarket when I can get it for 79 cents."  But then she explained that she bought her kale somewhere else because the bunches have less stem.  "You pay for the stem," she said and also mentioned that she always buys broccoli crowns to avoid having to pay for something she doesn't eat.

But the conversation didn't end there.  The penny-pinching produce lover also went on to say that while she doesn't eat much red meat, that she looks for beef that has been humanely raised.  She goes out of her way to buy grass-fed beef, which I estimate costs about 30% more than conventional.  It has never been proven that vegetables don't have feelings.  So why do we complain so much about the price of plants?  And we're not even talking about organically grown produce which sells for a premium.

God-forbid California is deluged with excessive rainfall and the price of strawberries goes up in price suddenly.  The average consumer will curse the store manager instead of feeling sympathy for the farmer.  Farmers make pennies on every retail dollar transaction that takes place out of their hands (after their produce has been passed through several middlemen) .  Most Americans have become selfishly accustomed to choosing from all varieties of produce grown domestically and abroad year-round.  If you want to eat blueberries in February then you better be willing to pay the cost of shipping them all the way from Chile.  You don't think twice about spending more on gas to drive an extra ten miles to a less expensive store.  Someone's gotta pay to transport vegetables from the Southern to the Northern hemisphere.  

As with all things in life, you get what you pay for.  Fruits and vegetables are no exception.

1. In most cases, fruits and vegetables grown with toxic pesticides & herbicides are cheaper and prettier than produce grown using organic means. As much as we'd like to believe that we can outsmart Mother Nature, the bitter truth is that conventional farming does more harm than good.  Planting genetically-modified seed, applying petrochemicals to the soil and spraying fields with neurotoxins increases yields and efficiency in the short-term. However, bioengineering & technology have long-term consequences that will have to paid for at a later date.  You know what they say about too much of a good thing...

Cheap produce is laced with hundreds of chemicals shown to have adverse human health effects.  If you dare to step outside of your sphere of blissful ignorance, check out the website "What's on my food?"

2. The other cheapskate misconception that I'd like to obliterate is the idea that shoppers should only pay for the edible portion of vegetables.  First of all, educated consumers should know by now that the minimally processed or prepped an item is, the cheaper the unit price.  A stalk of broccoli which has had its stem hacked off, affectionately labeled "broccoli crown," costs more per pound.  Even if the price differential seems like a reasonable sacrifice, think again.  I choose broccoli as an example because most people throw away a large portion of the edible stem.  The stem is just as nutritious and tasty as the florets plus it has a great crunch.  To enjoy it, you just have to peel the outside a little bit and cut off the very end of the stem.  My other beef with broccoli crowns is their lack of taste, which is an indication of their inferior nutritional content.  Once you cut a fruit or vegetable, it releases enzymes which cause brown discoloration and destroy nutrients.  Even non-edible parts of some vegetables can be put to good use.  The green fibrous tops of leeks and fennel can used to infuse soups and stews with great flavor.  Think about it, if you have a good friend but didn't like the color of her hair, would you demand that she cut it off?  Of course, not.  Then why do you insist on rejecting the least attractive portion of Mother Nature's bounty?

Do yourself a favor by not skimping when you shop for produce.  And pay your veggies some respect by preparing them with care and eating before they suffer a slow, painful death by decay in the fridge.