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PaperclipPerfector  3d ago (text post)   1758 thread views

Friday Fun Thread for April 17, 2026

Be advised: this thread is not for serious in-depth discussion of weighty topics (we have a link for that), this thread is not for anything Culture War related. This thread is for Fun. You got jokes? Share 'em. You got silly questions? Ask 'em.

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So I came across a reddit thread that discusses something I've been feeling for the past decade or so.

  • Strawberries that are bright red outside, but white inside and have no flavor
  • Bananas that are green and rotten at the same time
  • Kiwis that are partially rock-hard and partially mush
  • Potatoes that wrinkle in a couple day
  • Chicken thighs that maintain a texture more like raw even when cooked to temp
  • Beef that smells foul and is somehow rubbery even when barely cooked

I doubt it's just my city, and I go to several different grocery chains (some better than others), but the frequency with which I encounter the above issues and many more just feels so much higher than 15 years ago. I've gone back and forth about how much of this is bias/nostalgia and how much of this is real, but the more that I eat abroad and the more that I go grocery shopping, the more convinced I get that there has indeed been a significant recent decline in produce quality in the US.

And you didn't mention the avocados?

I gave up on finding consistently acceptable avocados so long ago that I forgot about them. If I'm going to buy bad produce, I might as well get cheap bad produce. Avocado dishes must be so expensive at restaurants because they're having to throw out more than half of them. Regardless, they're certainly an appropriate addition to the list.

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