Why do meat, vegetables, and fruit no longer taste as good as they used to?

Many people feel this way now: the meat and vegetables we buy today just do not taste as good as what we ate as kids. Roasted pork, beef, and the like are not fragrant anymore either; the flavor is just faint. Is it all in our heads, or is it real? I have actually asked many people who feel the same way, and this really is true. Of course, many people also say it is all in their heads, that they no longer feel safe eating anything. Hormones, pollution, GMOs, unscrupulous factories, and so on have already cast a shadow over people's minds.

But it is exactly these problems that make us uneasy about everything we eat, and nothing tastes as good as it used to. Back when we were kids and a pig was slaughtered, a whole crowd would gather around the roast meat, and oh, how fragrant it was. I really miss it. But when a pig is slaughtered now, just looking at the color of the lean meat, something is off; it is not as red as before. The lean meat now looks a bit pale. And beef now does not have the same chewiness as before either; it is like eating pork. Vegetables and fruit are the same now, with all kinds of hormones, and in a few days or half a month they are ready to eat. Of course, the pace of life is getting faster and faster now, and people can no longer slow down, but what exactly are we chasing with such a fast pace? Even eating a vegetable now requires growth hormones; how are we supposed to eat with peace of mind? Many children now reach puberty early, and many people say it is caused by eating food containing growth hormones.

Rapeseed grown in the countryside

Life in the countryside is still a bit better than in the city. A lot of what people grow and raise themselves is very reassuring to eat. There are also more and more elderly people in the countryside now; some are seventy or eighty years old and still farming their own land. Nearby, we had a man who was 86 and still went up the mountain himself to dig wild kudzu and fern roots and other wild vegetables, then made them into powder to eat. Real wild kudzu powder and fern root powder now sell for eighty or ninety, and in some places over a hundred per jin. Are we going to have to go up into the mountains to gather wild vegetables just to eat a bit of real vegetables in the future? Is there not a single artificially grown or raised thing left that can give us peace of mind?

Free-range native chicken

So more and more people are now willing to go back to the countryside. But many rural areas are now also slowly being urbanized, and much of what people have is basically bought. Many rural people now even buy their New Year pig from outside. Real farm-raised pigs fed on cooked feed are now much more expensive than feedlot pigs from outside, because there are fewer and fewer of them. I am really afraid that one day we will not be able to eat them at all. Vegetables and fruit are the same now, with a lot of pesticides. Take peaches, for example. I have been to the big peach growers, and they all say that if you do not spray peaches, there is simply nothing to eat. So many people now pick the less good-looking vegetables and fruit when buying, thinking that the prettier and bigger they are, the more pesticides they have. But actually, is what you buy in the supermarket outside any different?

But many people have noticed this problem now, so many young people are going back to the countryside to do farming and breeding, free-range and pasture-raised. They let them grow slowly, eat grass on the mountain, and drink mountain spring water. So the editor has now also gone back to the countryside to do farming and breeding: free-range native chickens, pasture-raised black pigs and cattle. I also grow Chinese toon and wild vegetables. They are all purely free-range and pasture-raised. You can come inspect on site at any time, or watch a live video stream. (Rural Odds and Ends)

Technology can be fast, but just let the things we eat grow slowly. Do not break their growth patterns, and let the countryside's last piece of pure land be preserved.

Vegetables grown in the countryside