I still remember what Florida oranges used to be.

They used to be large and filled with sweet juice. They had the flavor of oranges and you could always count on a good juice to fruit ratio. Florida oranges were (and are still used today) as juicing oranges. Chances are if you bought orange juice in the u.s, then you were drinking the juice of Florida oranges.

Now oranges are significantly dryer and lack the flavor they used to have. I tested it out by eating the fruit straight, and it was tougher to chew and had less juice (and less flavor) in each slice. I even bought some orange juice not too long ago, and this juice wasn't from concentrate either. It was made from fresh squeezed Florida oranges, and that was the only ingredient on the package.

When I tell you that it tastes like water with orange fruit essence and sugar added in, I'm not exaggerating one bit. It was the worst tasting orange juice I had ever had, and mind you this was from one of the more widely purchased brands of orange juice in the US (they proudly advertise their use of Florida oranges on the package).

https://www.sierraclub.org/sierra/florida-citrus-loses-its-sweet-taste-scientists-are-hunt-solutions

In the link above, it states that this distinct change in flavor and juice content it's due to a disease that is affecting most of the harvest. However well before this disease hit, I remember that Florida oranges were large because the fruit inside was large. Now the oranges are massive, and that's due to the pith becoming significantly thicker. The fruit inside stayed the same size, got dryer and more bland, but the pith got significantly thicker. So you pay more for the weight increase, even though that increase didn't come from more fruit it came from a thicker pith.

So even the best tasting fruit you could get grown in the u.s became like u.s tomatoes. Large, bland, and more expensive because of the size. Produce in this country has been going down in general.

Everytime I go to the store to grab some lettuce I always have to double check for E. Coli or listeria contaminations because of how frequently they have occured in the last years. Jalapenos are becoming less spicy, they're crossed that way so more people can buy them. For come reason, cucumbers go bad even quicker than they used to unless you splurge and by the large variety that comes shrink wrapped with a single cucumber in the package.

It's really bad now, basic ingredients have lost their flavors. I can see why people prefer fast food now, if they can afford it of course.

Even the fucking chicken you get from the store has gotten fucked up by capitalism. I'll post about that in another comment.