USA oranges

[bobm]

Most of us are looking for cheap foods due to the HIGH costs of things such as of TV service that offer reruns upon reruns, movie tickets, cell phones and computers that are obsolete the moment we buy a new and improved model, huge car prices, high gas prices, interest rates, rents, vacations, etc. . So, we are hard pressed to save a portion of our income for a down payment on a home , not to mention for retirement like our parents were able to do. Foreign food growers and huge food corporations have stepped in with cheap products to fill the need for cheap food. Example: my wife purchased 6 whole friers grown ( hormone and chemical free ) and processed by Foster farms in Washington averaging 6 lbs. each from Albertson's Grocery store for $0.88/lb.. Total bill was $31.68 for 36 lbs. for chicken.

 

[ducks4you]

You can tell FL oranges often bc they don't usually spray them uniformly orange. If you see green on the outside, this is normal. The fruit is still fully ripe.

 

[ninnymary]

The oranges that you see at the store are never a pretty orange color. My mom's oranges are a beautiful deep orange color all around! Very sweet too!

Mary

 

[thistlebloom]

That's something I didn't know, that they dyed oranges orange.

When I was in elementary school my best friend had a citrus grove in their huge front yard. They had several trees of every type of citrus. We used to just stand out there stuffing ourselves full of whatever was ripe.
I don't remember my hands being stained like they are now when I peel an orange. That's a bummer that they spray them.

 

[Pulsegleaner]

We're probably more or less stuck with this problem. It's all very well to talk about trying to become food self sufficient, but most people don't realize that doing that relies on regular "lean times" (usually in the winter) where food (or at least some nutrients) will be in very short supply (to the level of "some people will not survive" leanness) Sooner or later, you'll get a series of crop failures and in the absence of being able to bring food in from somewhere else, you'll starve.

The only thing I find more ludicrous is the people who seem to think that going fully "off the grid" is possible long term; that there is a way to set up your homestead and village in a manner where you need no outside input of goods, EVER. If you have the right people, you can make it last a long time, but not forever. Your blacksmith can make all the tools you want, but he's going to need iron to do it, and there are only so many times metal can be recycled and reforged before you need fresh stock. And what are the odds you live right next to a supply of ore (or even more importantly, ore rich enough and near enough to the surface you can mine it with hand tools?) ditto your potter or your glass blower, how much clay or glass ingots do you have? Humanity has not been able to be tribally completely self sufficient since we came out of Africa, and we never will.

 

[Zeedman]

We're probably more or less stuck with this problem. It's all very well to talk about trying to become food self sufficient, but most people don't realize that doing that relies on regular "lean times" (usually in the winter) where food (or at least some nutrients) will be in very short supply (to the level of "some people will not survive" leanness) Sooner or later, you'll get a series of crop failures and in the absence of being able to bring food in from somewhere else, you'll starve.

Agreed. We can never be fully self-sufficient - even as nations - unless we change our expectations. Trouble is, that just won't happen. Imagine explaining to someone that their winter diet & summer diet would actually be different... and pretty limited at times. Preaching local, and actually eating local, are two very different things. Those in the industrialized world have become too accustomed to year-round produce, and it would be impossible for local (or even national) sources to meet that demand. Furthermore, we would have to completely give up such foods as bananas, mangoes, cashews, etc.

It is also worth mentioning, when considering pesticides on imported produce, that local is not necessarily better. Imported produce is regulated & inspected to meet our standards; and whether you trust those programs or not, there do not seem to be any mass poisonings going on. Furthermore, plenty of local farmers use pesticides as well; my whole family got sick two years ago from some farmers market produce. Pesticides are most dangerous when in untrained hands, so it pays to know the farmer... which is the reason I grow so much of my own.

 

[Carol Dee]

When Dad 1st retired He and Mom spent winters in Mesa, AZ. They parked the 5th wheel at an RV park that had an orange tree in every space. They had all the fresh oranges they could eat.

 

[thistlebloom]

When Dad 1st retired He and Mom spent winters in Mesa, AZ. They parked the 5th wheel at an RV park that had an orange tree in every space. They had all the fresh oranges they could eat.

They're so good right off the tree, juicy and a little warm from the sun.

 

[seedcorn]

Imported produce is most certainly NOT raised under our regulations. They use insecticides that are illegal in USA-don't get me started on their rates. They use child labor that is also illegal in USA. I could go on and on and on, but I'll spare you.

All USA inspection does is assure the buyers that the products are not carrying any insects-that they can see......

 

[Zeedman]

When Dad 1st retired He and Mom spent winters in Mesa, AZ. They parked the 5th wheel at an RV park that had an orange tree in every space. They had all the fresh oranges they could eat.

Mmmmm... that's really something special. There is nothing like the taste of fully ripe citrus, fresh off the tree. I had a taste of that when I lived in California. I kind of miss that gentle climate sometimes; but I'd rather have a short season with plenty of land & water, than a long season with scarce water.