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July
30
Fruit Abuse – Report it Here!
Filed under Raw Vegan Lifestyle by Frederic Patenaude
22
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by Veronica Grace Patenaude
Oh beloved fruit, how I love thee. But these days I am noticing more than ever that you are not being treated properly or even very well in general. Something terrible has happened to our society. People have forgotten how to choose you, take care of you, cut you and serve you.
This has to stop!
To raise awareness for my dear friends I have compiled all of my best examples to help spread the word and educate people on this nonsense.
Here are some recent examples.
#1. The disgusting conglomerate “fruit salad”.
WHY do they insist on adding oranges or other acidic fruits like kiwi or pineapple into these “fresh” concoctions? It absolutely ruins the flavor of everything. Who wants to eat watery orange flavored melons and grapes. I wish someone would teach them some fruit sense! Not all fruits have to be combined to create a fruit salad, the more fruits the worse the taste.
Preventative measure: If out at a restaurant, ask if the fruit salad is pre made or made fresh. If fresh ask that they only include fruits of your choice or omit the oranges. If at someone’s house where they’re preparing fruit salad tell them about the effects of acidic fruits on sweet fruits and melons and help them design a colourful fruit salad that won’t compromise the flavor of each fruit.
#2. The sad tale of the unripe banana.
Ever seen a co worker tote an unripe yellow banana to and from work every day? Sitting on their desk, and then going into the fridge and then back on their desk and then back into the fridge? Abandoned and unripe… It just never gets eaten despite their “healthy intentions” such a shame.
Preventative measure: Ensure your friends and family know how to select a banana and when it is ripe to each. Tell them that the banana should ripen at room temperature for several days after it turns completely yellow and that it is ripe when there are brown speckles all over it. This is when the banana is at it’s sweetest and the starch has been converted into sugar by the enzymes in the banana.
#3. The overworked grocery clerk that slams your apples down on the scale at the grocery check out.
This is one of the most heartbreaking stories. You spent minutes, yes, MINUTES picking out perfectly ripe, unbruised apples. Each one a delicate work of art. Only to make it to the check out and have them callously tossed around and inevitably bruised before you even make it to the car. How could someone be so heartless?
Preventative measure: Smile and say hello to your cashier. Ask that they be extra careful with your produce and you really appreciate it. Or just use self checkout and avoid the whole situation!
#4. The fruit bowl of death.
You might have seen this at your parents or friend’s house. The iconic bowl of fruit in the kitchen, yet no one is eating out of it. The fruit just sits there to get old and squishy and gets brought out to the table when guests are around only to disappoint them with a watered down lacklustre flavor. Grapes and cherries belong in the fridge people!
Preventative measure: Talk about how much you enjoy eating fruit, how easy they are to eat and quick and satisfying. Make fruit sound appealing to those around you to include these in their diets every day. Comment on how you love keeping your ripe fruits (peaches, nectarines, grapes, cherries, oranges, lychees and other perishables) crisp and fresh. Let people know that counters are best suited for slower ripening fruits like bananas, melons and apples.
#5. The moldy produce drawer. You open up the fridge at a friend’s house and notice they have some old decaying fruit or vegetable matter (you can’t tell at this point) in their produce drawer. In fact there’s more than a few abandoned things in here that have seen better days. Your host told you there was “some” fruit in the fridge… I think you’ll be going hungry at this point.
Preventative measure: To prevent this catastrophe from happening to you inspect your fridge weekly removing any foul smelling or squishy produce. Compost it and make a mental note to only buy what you will consume each week. For friends with mouldy produce drawers tell them it’s too bad their food went to waste. Suggest some recipes or meal ideas for the foods that were spoiled so they have an easier time remembering what to do with them next time around.
#6. The tupperware of old fruit.
Your aunt always keeps some cut up fruit in a tupperware container in the fridge. The unfortunate part is that it never gets finished and keeps going from fridge to table every meal. The fruit is cut up but getting mushy and watered down by now and is past it’s prime. Sadly she does not know that fruit can be enjoyed a better way. (Do not abuse your watermelon this way!)
Preventative measure: Consume cut fruit within the same day or at most 2 days. It is at its freshest and most flavorful the same day. Encourage everyone at the table to take a slice or two of fruit and make sure that it is finished that meal. For the next meal cut up some new fruit and serve it fresh and watch people wonder in amazement at the difference in flavor and texture! Insist that you eat a lot of fruit and enjoy preparing it fresh for each meal.
#7. Eating fruit at the end of a meal.
Quite often people want to end their meal with something sweet, whether it’s a dessert, coffee with sugar or some fruit. What they don’t realize is that eating fruit on top of heavy foods like meat, dairy or bread is really doing your body a disservice. It creates a poor environment for digestion and the fruit sugars begin to ferment on top of the previously eaten food items causing bloating, gas and blood sugar swings.
Preventative measure: Eat fruit first before the meal or as a snack 20 to 30 minutes beforehand. This ensures your body has enough time to digest this water rich food and not cause any digestive upset or blood sugar swings. Encourage your friends and family to do the same. Let them know they’ll crave less heavy foods for their meal and inevitably be more energized and possibly lose weight too!
#8. The notorious garlic-onion fruit.
Have you ever noticed how the taste of raw garlic and onions permeates every food you eat? Especially fruit? Many times restaurant staff use the same cutting board to cut fruit on as they do garlic or onions so inevitably your “delicious” fruit plate ends up tasting like onion watermelon or garlic pineapple. TRULY disgusting.
Preventative measure: ALWAYS use a separate cutting board for vegetables than fruits. Wood and plastic cutting boards retain the oils from garlic and onions and pass them on to other foods. Ask your waitress to ensure that the kitchen staff does not cut your fruit on the same cutting board as those items. Tell your family and friends to use two separate cutting boards when preparing foods for entertaining such as vegetable trays and fruit platters. Your taste buds will thank you.
So now you’ve been informed, help spread the word. Educate your friends and family about proper fruit conduct and how to enjoy fruit at its prime.
Let this be the beginning of a new day for fruits everywhere. A brighter tomorrow where there are more educated people who can handle you and appreciate you properly. Children who will know how to select and when you are ripe for peak enjoyment.
Have you witnessed any fruit abuse? Report it here!
22 Responses to “Fruit Abuse – Report it Here!”
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lola says:
I tried that, giving tips & suggestions. People thought what they were doing is normal & don’t listen. I saw green bananas in the fridge, told them they need to ripen first before you put them in the fridge. Was told “No, they ripen in the fridge, blah,blah,blah” Then I am reminded, you can’t throw pearls to swine.
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Josette says:
Great article Frederic!
I am so happy not to be the only one getting frustrated at the check-out when my beautifully picked fruits are tossed without care on the conveyor belt!
Have a great and safe journey around the world! Best wishes. -
Tera says:
This is funny. About the fruit after a meal deal- what about after a raw, low-fat meal? Such as a veggie paté or salad?
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Justin says:
Awesome! I get stressed out when I see cashiers juggling my bananas, apples, etc. and squishing my salads.
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Kim says:
#3!! Exactly the reason I check out and bag EVERYTHING myself!! I didn’t spend 1 hour in the produce section to pick out just the right stuff for my looks!! Don’t atoucha ma stuff!! Great article… have seen all of this…poor little fruit, so innocent, so abused.
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Grace says:
Hi !
I hope you will not find my two questions absolutely OFF topic..Watermelon-
is this ok to eat seeds (black ones), I actually like them but perhaps they are not good for us?when I eat watermelon on empty stomach- my stomach hurts…I heard that this is common with some people…why?
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becky person says:
Oh yes, fruit abuse…well, so many people let perfectly good ‘backyard fruits’ go to waste! I think it’s great that the insects, possums and skunks and such get a little taste, but so much still goes to waste.
I have just heard of an organization which helps distribute this fruit. At the very least we need an awareness campaign that reminds folks “Hey your neighbors might want some of that!!!” Thanks for the great article on fruit abuse.
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Moreover i saw that the “conglomerate fruit salad” at the hotels breackfast is added water with sugar !?! Isn’t it sweet enough?
I belive that after eating all the eggs and beacon the clients need a real sugar bomb to wake up.
Enjoy te season, now is the time to enjoy the local fruits, don’t go to the supermarkets but find a farmers market, there’s so much good stuff
vadim -
Sooz says:
Great tips! Thanks a lot Veronica!
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Sam says:
Some things I’ve heard from people / read about in the past:
- Salt on watermelon
- Grilled watermelon
- Genetically modified watermelon – I’ve read low-carb blogs rejoice over this… they can now enjoy watermelon grown with less sugar just so they can throw artificial sweetener garbage like splenda on it! Boggles the mind…
- Parmesan cheese on figs -
oxxxygenman says:
frederick,do you know about the hydrogen peroxide(35%foodgrade) mixture of 11oz of distilled water and 1oz of hydrogen peroxide to spray on your food to keep the bugs and germs out and soaking your fruits and vegtables to keep them fresh longer?
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Naomi says:
I work at a high school in a rural town. Some wise parents want their teenagers to bring fruit to school to eat during breaks. But some of those teenagers just throw the fruit in a garbage bin and go for the vending machine to buy a bar of sugar, fat and calories. Sometimes I feel like grabbing those teenies by the shoulders, shaking them and shouting: “Don’t you know how long it takes for a tree to grow an apple like that? You don’t just throw that away! You eat it, gratefully!!!”
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Frederic Patenaude says:
I’ve not personally used the hydrogen peroxide technique but it sounds like a good idea for washing, but I’m not sold on soaking them in that mixture.
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If you like watermelon seeds, go for it! Lots of people have trouble with watermelon on an empty stomach. I have not been able to find a convincing answer as to why that happens. Watch the quantities, and listen to your body.
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Patrina says:
Veronica, personally I enjoy a bite of acidic fruit amongst my other fruits in a fresh home made fruit salad, and I don’t have any problems with the digestion side of things
I would say it’s abuse to add artificially coloured glace cherries to mimic canned fruit salad – arrrggghhh! My pet hate is old battered and bruised cold-storage apples in the supermarkets when the new season apples should be there, but most of those go overseas instead. -
Lorelei says:
I have been eating my fruit at least 30 minutes before the rest of my meal and feel so much better for it. For now I only eat one fruit at a time and enjoy it much better that way. I have lost weight and improved that bloated feeling I used to get before eating this way. I know so many people that shut fruit and most vegetable out of their life and wonder why they suffer so many digestive issues. Raw fruit and vegetables were put on this earth for us to eat for a reason. Why would anyone “neglect them”? Some people are just set in their ways and are not easily convinced of how to eat for better health. There are plenty of people that are interested in getting healthier and those are the people that will listen and share all.
Cheers! To better health for everyone!!! -
Thanks Fred for speaking up about fruit! About watermelon on “empty stomach” I think we need to eat watermelon on an empty body, not just empty stomach. We need to know what’s in the system further down. I think there are interactions even if we feel stomach is empty. The whole body knows when something is coming in. If we have some other foods still down there somewhere, especially anything fatty or more fibrous + dense, I feel there’s some clashing going on. I’m careful about watermelon. i do best with fruit monomeals, but find that cherries+ nectarines are good companions. I find that grapes are best alone usually. i just don’t feel right if there’s anything else.
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Lauren says:
Ohhh yes, those grocery clerks slamming my fruit down!
Once it got so unbelievably bad I actually glared at someone, stuck my index finger in their face and snarled: “HEY YOU! Stop that! I’m buying this with my hard-earned money!” They knocked off the surly attitude/fruit slamming real quick and *gently* laid down the rest of the fruit as they checked it. And if they hadn’t, I’d have been up at the manager’s window in a hot NY second.
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debbie s says:
enjoyed reading this article & comments
i’ve watched my fruit abused at check out, too. -
joe says:
Are there any spices you would recommend to use on different kinds of fruit salad? Such as cinnamon with apples and raisins.
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Jane says:
Here is an abuse of fruit salad. I went to a resturant and they served a fruit salad with diced chicken.
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Wow that is scary!
