There was a time I frowned upon picky shoppers, mostly in the developed world who reportedly rejected “ugly food” including oddly shaped or blemished fruit and discoloured vegetables, mostly imported from Africa and Asia. Well, I’ve become that kind of shopper. If something doesn’t look like it should, I just won’t buy it. If bananas look weird or a watermelon has a bump or dent, I’m not touching it. You know how bananas, avocados and oranges used to have distinct shapes and colours? Well, that has changed. It’s this Genetically Modified Food Movement, isn’t it? I know they have the best of intentions in trying to end hunger across the world but I just want to eat organic food. More and more, I’m seeing avocados that look more like paw paws, mangoes that look like water melons which themselves taste so sweet I wonder if sugar is now a fertilizer! I’m not even exaggerating. I’ve seen unusually large cucumbers and carrots and there’s no doubt in my mind as to how they got that big. I haven’t seen green oranges in months but I see bright yellow ones all the time. I used to enjoy ready-to-eat snacks and salads because I’m too lazy to cut up say a whole pineapple or cabbage but I’m back to the old fashioned “go to the market yourself and pick out the fruit and veggies” just to make sure I’m not fed strange things. I finally understand why my grandmother and in fact my Mum, were passionate about growing their own food. Both still had to buy food from the market, especially my Mum because she wasn’t a full-time farmer but that option is not even feasible for most of us today because we neither have the time nor the desire for gardening. Well, at least I don’t and yet even I wish for the good old days when life was simple and you didn’t have to worry about the level of pesticides and chemicals in your “fresh” food. Speaking of fresh, why don’t some supermarkets clear withered and overripe foods from shelves? If a bunch of bananas turn brown, throw them out because no one is going to want to buy them. I also wish suppliers went the extra mile and cleaned the fruit before delivering it to supermarkets! I’ve seen snail marks and actual snails just before picking something up. Many times, there’re also food flies which a little cleaning up would get rid of. I’m thinking of starting a produce cleaning business where suppliers drop their produce off and pick it a couple of hours later because I’m just tired of buying “dirty” food even from up market supermarkets. I always wash everything once I get home but still, I just want people to make an effort. It’s part of the great customer care experience, isn’t? I almost forgot to say something about the meat and chicken situation. Let’s just say that I’m one step closer to turning vegetarian. Some of these stores make you want to wash the meat with soap from all the flies all over it!
