Scivillage.com Casual Discussion Science Forum

As one who has worked in retail grocery for the last 11 years, I have found the changes in what we have on our shelves to be absolutely fascinating and more than a little concerning.

Let's face it, everybody has to eat and so this topic is one that we all can have some input to for it is intended merely to share observations and to generate some thought provoking discussion, not to advocate one way of eating over another though I do invite participants to share their preferred choices and why they decide upon them.

So to start the ball rolling, as it is presently the harvest season across much of North America, what is the main item on your grocery list of late?

For myself, I have been eating a lot of watermelon because I can buy it by the piece and it has been very inexpensive for the last several weeks. Our store puts out little sample displays by the bins so at the end of my shift I can try a sample and decide if this day's offering is likely to be about par or excellent. I have been fortunate to select some really good watermelon and I think I have eaten more of that fruit this year than any year in recent memory.

Yeah!  You joined. 

Thanks, Scheherazade! 

Oh, hell ya!  Bring on the watermelon.  I eat it almost every day.  It’s sad, though.  The end of the season is just around the corner.  

Quote:Originally posted by Secular Sanity:

"Oh, hell ya!  Bring on the watermelon.  I eat it almost every day.  It’s sad, though.  The end of the season is just around the corner. "

The regional season may be nearing the end but we have watermelon year round in our store. In fact, our watermelons are imported all year as our growing season is too short for melons and many other fruits and vegetables.

http://www.ctvnews.ca/sci-tech/canadian-...-1.1883287

Interestingly though, I find that there are not many fruits and veggies that I crave when they are not in season with the possible exception of cherries. We get some cherries from Chile during the winter months and they are tasty and interesting being a firm fleshed variety that is somewhat different from the B.C. varieties we usually get.

Okay folks, name your favorite small fruit.

Indeed, watermelon, had one of those personal types, and a slice of a more regular type of seedless within the past few days.  My body is better able to hydrate from that, apparently, than from plain water.

I like table grapes a lot, too.  The black ones have been at a lower price lately.  They haven't been as sweet as in past years, yet lower sugar content shouldn't hurt in helping to keep my blood sugar down.

Other small fruit I like include cherries and blue berries, which I see at the nearby produce market (shop), yet which tend to be above my affordability level.  For a while, strawberries were on special, and I was getting them, too.  They are also tasty to me.

Cherries are one of my fav's and for the first few years working in the store, I bought a lot of them and froze them for winter use. Then I discovered frozen sweet cherries and when they go on sale, they are more economical than fresh as they are already stemmed and pitted.

This season, cherries arrived about two weeks earlier than usual and the first offering was at $6.99 per pound, dropping as the main crop came in to $4.99 and I pounced when the season peaked and they were at $3.49 for one weekend. I have gotten rid of my freezer though and so did not put any by as my fridge freezer compartment was full. Not worried though as I can buy the frozen sweet ones when they go on sale and I will have more room in the freezer by then. End of season cherries were at $7.49 last week. Supply and demand is what drives pricing.

$7.49, that's steep all right.  Down here in the lower 48, I was able to get a two pound pack of sweet red cherries for $.99!  I was able to go back every couple days and get another pack at that good price.  That went on for about a week.

I thought I should mention that lately, I have been adding about ten grains (the normal tiny crystals) of magnesium sulfate to each cup of my drinking water.  Though there is mention online that it isn't  water soluable, and therefore isn't biavalable when consumed orally, as opposed to a bath soak, I am skeptical of that information to a large degree.  Most Americans are said to be low in bodily magnesium levels, so that was much of the rational behind my practice.  

Well, all that to say my plain water isn't quite plain.  With the tiny bit of MgSO4 I have been adding, I am guessing that the water is a bit better at hydrating than most water from the tap (filtered by the way), and it gives it a slightly "sweeter" flavor. Also sulfer is an essential nutrient, so magnesium sulfate sounds pretty good overall to me.

I take Magnesium Citrate as a daily supplement along with Vitamin C. The combination seems to be beneficial to digestion when I am on a schedule that
is split between graveyards and day shift weekly, a regime that I have been able to maintain since 2009. The jury is rather divided on supplements, I know,
but if one does their research and derives any satisfaction or benefit from them, either placebo or measurable, it is not my place to judge.

I am rather more concerned about our ambiguous labeling laws which are often a challenge to comprehend.

'Packaged in Canada' is not to be confused with 'Canada Inspected' or 'Product of Canada'.

Are we confused yet?

Indeed, it is confusing.  We might have a similar problem. What all does "product of the USA" mean I wonder.  I would rather have them say grown and packed in the USA.

I think taking supplements is advisable, given that the soil has become and becomes more depleted of vital minerals over the years.

I can revisit why I take just half a Centrum per day.  I think that is more conducive to my balance of nutrients.  My thought on the matter is that slightly undernurished people tend to live longest and healthiest.  Finding the right diet and point of nutrition is the tricky thing.

Another of my pet peeves lies in how juice is labeled.

There are several brands that sell "100% Juice" in a huge array of flavor combinations. 

Quote:100% Juice Blend Cranberry Pomegranate Cherry

Ocean Spray® 100% Juice Blends have no added sugar and no preservatives. Just one cup (250mL) equals 2 servings of fruit. Studies have shown that eating five to ten servings of fruits and vegetables per day, as part of a healthy diet, can reduce the risk to some types of cancer.

INGREDIENTS:

RECONSTITUTED GRAPE JUICE, RECONSTITUTED APPLE JUICE, RECONSTITUTED CRANBERRY JUICE, RECONSTITUTED PLUM JUICE, RECONSTITUTED POMEGRANATE JUICE, RECONSTITUTED CHERRY JUICE, NATURAL FLAVOURS, FUMARIC ACID, ASCORBIC ACID (VITAMIN C), CITRIC ACID

You might assume that the content was a blend of the three named fruit juices but in fact the greater part is grape and apple juice as well as some plum juice, and far lessor amounts of  pomegranate and cherry, two of the three flavors featured in the name. It is 100% juice because it has not been made from concentrates but if you are wanting actual cranberry, pomegranate or cherry juice you will be paying three to five times the price.

While I have selected just one well known brand as an example, they all follow suit.

I make my own fruit cordials (non-alcoholic) at home from cranberry, raspberry or rhubarb and then can the concentrated juice. One part of cordial with two parts of water makes a refreshing beverage and I know the exact proportions of fruit, sugar and water in what I am drinking.

(Aug 24, 2016 03:20 AM)elte Wrote: [ -> ]I can revisit why I take just half a Centrum per day.  I think that is more conducive to my balance of nutrients.  My thought on the matter is that slightly malurished people tend to live longest and healthiest.  Finding the right diet and point of nutrition is the tricky thing.

I guess we've been going the other direction with a high potency softgel multivitamin. There's a "with iron" version, too. Directions are to take two softgels daily at the same time, but I divide them up for morning and evening meals. Of course, it would be easy to go half the dosage with one softgel a day, too.

The 120 count bottle (2 months, one person) is $9.99 in the monthly mail-order catalog.

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(Aug 24, 2016 08:48 PM)scheherazade Wrote: [ -> ]Another of my pet peeves lies in how juice is labeled. There are several brands that sell "100% Juice" in a huge array of flavor combinations. 

I tried to switch completely from fruit to juice, but the label contents irritated me, too; and I don't like the absence of pulp. I'm pretty much locked into the regularity of buying apples, frozen mixed fruit, dried plums, and raisins without much deviation from that.