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Discerning Diner
Produce wizard, a real peach of a guy, shares some buying tips

By Elan Head

I’m a big fan of farmers markets and will go out of my way (sometimes hours out of my way) to shop at them. But more often than not, I get my produce like most everybody else: from a grocery store.

Sure, farmers markets have unparalleled just-picked produce, but they’re also seasonal (and around here, their season isn’t summer).

And since they generally run just once or twice a week, there are times when the spirit is willing but the wheels are not.

Grocery stores, on the other hand, are always there, always open and almost always have what you need. How many local farmers, for example, are growing bananas? Not many. But grocery stores, those gleaming temples to American plenty, have just what you want for your breakfast cereal.

To learn more about the inner workings of a grocery store produce department, I talked to Mike Teeter, who is a member of Albertson’s produce department. He had some tips for me on picking produce from the shelf.

Grocery stores get their produce through major distributors, who buy from big growers. A lot of the produce we see around here comes from Mexico and California.

The produce isn’t shipped directly to the stores. Rather, it goes to central warehouses, where it’s parceled out as needed. Most of it goes straight to the shelves--there’s not a whole other produce department in the back room. A straight-to-shelf policy keeps the turnover, and the quality, high.

The person you see stocking the produce isn’t the one selecting it. No, the buyers are at central distribution centers, making their selections based on what’s in season and what looks best.

Pricing is centralized, too, so don’t blame your friendly local produce clerk for those $2 avocadoes. Typically, your cost reflects the store’s cost. When the retailer secures a large quantity of a particular item at a low price--a “buy-in,” as it’s known in the trade– shoppers share in the bonanza. Often, these buy-ins are of seasonal produce and can be quite good.

Which brings us to Rule No. 1 of grocery store produce: Price is an imperfect indicator of quality. If one apple is a little pricier than the one next to it, there’s probably a reason--perhaps it’s a better, crisper hybrid.

But let’s say you’re paying $4 per pound for peaches. That’s probably because it’s out of season, shipped from halfway across the world. Your premium pays for fuel costs, not flavor.

The farther a fruit or vegetable travels, the earlier it’s picked and the more it deteriorates during shipping. So cheap produce is sometimes the best produce, at the height of its season and flavor.

Happily, peaches are in season right now, as are nectarines and other soft fruits. According to Teeter, good seasonal soft fruit will be available through September, but July and August are months when the grocery-store season peaks.

How to choose it? When ripe, soft fruit is, well, soft. It gives to gentle pressure but isn’t mushy.

Peaches and nectarines will ripen on the counter--in fact, don’t refrigerate them unless they’re dead ripe. (Dead ripe fruits will keep a day or two in the fridge.)

Soft fruit that’s refrigerated too soon will never ripen properly; it will keep a hard core even as its skin collapses in wrinkles.

Two other recommendations for picking soft fruit apply to most produce. First, avoid blemished produce. Second: follow your nose. Good fruits and veggies smell like fruits and veggies should.

“If it smells like a tomato, it probably tastes like a tomato,” says Teeter.

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