Interesting article, and it made some good points. I'm all for using the best techniques available for a job, though I remain skeptical and cautious because of our proven tendency to overuse and abuse and to think in isolation. As an example of the last, think of enriched white flour. We strip goodness from the wheat and think we've restored it by adding back a few, isolated vitamins.

I'm also old enough to recognize that our modern agricultural methods have made an enormous amount of food, in great variety, available at unbelievably low prices, so I temper my enthusiasm for more natural methods with concern for those who would gladly have even poor-quality food to alleviate their hunger.

Although I'm not qualified to say much about pesticides, fertilizers, or nutrition, I do know one thing missing from our mass-produced foods: flavor. The classic example is the home-grown tomato. My daughter said it best when she was little: "A store-bought tomato is a vegetable; a home-grown tomato is a fruit!" If you've ever had the privilege of tasting unpasteurized cider at a small New England orchard, or unpasteurized milk from a cow raised on pasture, or unpasteurized orange or grapefruit juice directly from the grove, you know how little these wonders resemble the products of the same name you can buy in the grocery store. There's a great variety in the taste of oranges -- why should cartons of orange juice all have the same, bland flavor?

I'm not against agri-businesses; they have their place. I'm not convinced they need government subsidies, however! Let those go to small, independent farmers -- organic and otherwise -- who are preserving a national treasure.

I do know one thing missing from our mass-produced foods: flavor. The classic example is the home-grown tomato.

I agree with you entirely on this point, Linda. I rarely buy organic, but if I did, it would certainly be in a case where it looked or tasted better. I'm not generally a huge tomato fan, but those hard, almost-white slabs that I find on my burger -- well, really now. Who was thinking I wanted that?

I'm not convinced they need government subsidies, however!

Amen again!

There's a great variety in the taste of oranges -- why should cartons of orange juice all have the same, bland flavor?

Unfortunately, because that's what people buy. That and you end up mixing a whole lot of oranges to get one batch of juice, so the flavors tend to even out.

Along with those problems, you have the additional problem of volatile compounds degrading/evaporating/etc when pastuerized/stored/distributed/etc.

Unfortunately, to get grove tasting orange juice in supermarkets would be inordinately expensive, both because of logistics and because of liability (lack of pastuerization).

Not to mention the FDA wouldn't let it happen in a million years... <grumble>

(interesing article, Tim)

SursumCorda - There's a great variety in the taste of oranges -- why should cartons of orange juice all have the same, bland flavor?

Adding to Michael's answer...

SursumCorda - Just curious, have you ever tried something like "pure valencia orange juice, not from concentrate?" Was it any better, or no?

Ryan, I'm glad you brought up the "from concentrate" juice, because that's what I use to try to explain the taste of "real" citrus juices to those who've never tasted them. As high as "fresh, not from concentrate" juice is above the reconstituted variety, so is unpasteurized juice above the best "not from concentrate." And the fact that you specify "pure valencia" illustrates the other problem: Valencia is but one variety of orange, albeit popular for juicing. Wine is not all the same flavor -- neither should orange juice be. I'm speaking of citrus juice because that's what I know best, but I feel the same way about cider/apple juice, and milk as well.

Certainly bland, all-the-same orange juice is what people buy, because that's what they find on their grocer's shelves. And it's true that what is available has improved greatly since the days of concentrate-only.

But it's not true that the good stuff can't be sold in grocery stores. When I can't get to a grove (which, sad to say, is usually the case), I can buy fresh, unpasteurized juice at Whole Foods or at The Fresh Market; I've also found it available in the Northeast at Wegmans supermarkets.

I don't think regulation should be an issue. Here in Florida, producers who follow a rigorous procedure of cleanliness (which, frankly, I'd want anyway) are licensed by the state to sell unpasteurized juice. In Connecticut the same is true for selling unpasteurized milk.

Mind you, it's not cheap. I usually pay $5/half gallon for my unpasteurized grapefruit juice, because the closer source is the more expensive. But to anyone who says he doesn't like grapefruit juice, I say that if you haven't tried the real thing, you haven't tried grapefruit juice.

I generally buy organic, if only because I'm allergic to way too many substances, including additives and preservatives... and organic doesn't have the additives and preservatives...

Of course, I still can't eat most organic stuff, but it helps in that department, at least.

-TCG