Where Does Your Produce Come From

Ever wonder where those January strawberries came from? Or those tomatoes that  you ate last month and during this one? Probably not from the US. Think Mexico, Centra andl  South America and even Australia and New Zealand. Produce is not all American anymore - and with it comes a whole host of problems and dilemmas.

David Karp, a pomologist or self proclaimed "fruit detective", wrote this interesting and eye opening piece in yesterday's New York Times Food section.Supermarkets have a cornucopia of fruits and vegetables, now during a Northern Hemisphere winter. It's easy to get tomatoes and grapes along with blueberries and peppers./ Years ago, the only  fresh produce you could get during mid March was oranges for fruit and winter cabbage for veggies.That was it.I had to f you wanted anything else, you would have settle for canned, pickled or preserved. Now, thanks to farms in Mexico ,and the southern hemisphere where it's the height of summer, we can have a wide range of just picked . Of course this is wonderful, especially for families with growing kids and teens. A varied diet, full of fresh produce is vital to having a healthy kid.There's also other pluses too . It's sometimes fresher than the domestic kinds. Gala apples, harvested in New Zealand are crunchier than their American counterparts. Chile's pink , seedless Muscat grapes are more flavorful than locally grown ones.Imports, though , can also go the opposite way. Mexican and Peruvian asparagus tends to be fibrous and rubbery while our stalks are plumper, juicier and just more tastier .

There are a lot of downsides to these imports. They do suffer in transit.. They are perishable, after all and can arrive bruised , nicked and rotten. They could also be prematurely picked  and allowed to ripen in the store. or lose their flavor thanks to treatments  to kill pests. Mangoes, have to soaked in hot water while citrus has to be kept in cold temperatures to control any bugs that may sneak in..Another issue is the large carbon footprint imported produce can cause  which can irk eco minded consumers..Most harvests arrive here by plane which guarantees fresher ,"younger " fruit  but that also means carbon emissions and pollution. A scarier aspect of importers is that they can be connected to drug cartels.looking to launder money and diversify their operations control. Even scarier extorting  the production and packaging of certain crops mostly from Mexico, Growers and militias have fought back . The implications of cartel control has remained unclear, especially in the areas of quality, cost, and healthfulness. Imported produce also has one more damaging side effect - hurting local organic farmers. They suffer the most , especially in when their crops are in season. After all consumers go for the cheaper which is the non organic., whether local or imported.If we buy nothing but  imports , then these small or niche growers will suffer greatly.

What should a home chef do? If you value nutrition over the earth then buy the produce,If you;re more green minded, then don't. It is your choice and sadly there is no  happy middle ground.