If these Fruits are great then why so hard to get the actual fruit fresh in the states?

Like, I'd really like to try fresh Goji berries but I live in Utah.

Mangoes, papayas & cherimoyas where once hard to get in Utah and where praised highly with claims but now you can get them any place and are just a regular fruit like apples.
Are any of these (noni, acai, goji, mangosteen) available in warmer states fresh like Hawaii, California, Florida?
Surely these could or can be grown in warmer states, yes/no?

I've had mangosteen in Utah but not the others....

I'm almost questioning the value of these fruits. Or wondering why they get labelled so highly if only available to some companies who make such claims?

Do some of you see my questioning behind this or these fruits?

Maybe not so much behind the fruit themselves but behind all these rawfood websites and their claims. A prime example is ***Goji Berries***
Look at therawchoice.com and the stuff they print on their dried fruits products...[www.therawchoice.com]

I can take something like dirt and post all this stuff about it just to make a sell.........................



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/16/2006 08:25PM by rawdev.

I read your post with interest...

I have had the same thoughts, too, and my conclusion is: we can get wonderous effects of antioxidants, minerals and vitamins from a wide variety of raw fruits and veggies. I don't believe any one "superfruit" can do something that a combination of others can't do.

All the minute benefits of each fruit/veggie have not even been discovered yet, IMHO. What we think is ONLY found in "(insert name here)" fruit may be in 20 others, just not in overwhelmingly obvious amounts, and not yet discovered.

Plus, fresh has got to be better than dried, or commercially juiced and bottled.

Thanks for your insight! Now I don't feel all alone out here with my somewhat radical opinion!

I have heard (but not researched myself yet) that a very closely related species to goji berries one grew in England (and maybe still does if there are any truly wild places left). This lead on to the idea that it might be possible to grow goji berries in England... I must do more research.

Rob

--
Rob Hull - Funky Raw
My blog: [www.rawrob.com]

You won't find Acai in the U.S. because it requires a special, tropical climate. It is a fruit of the rainforest and needs the perfect balance between rain, or moisture, and humidity to flourish. It would be very difficult for anyone to actually grow this fruit over here except under ideal conditions; which we don't have.

Cheers,

Marcos

Go Vegan for your life, your health, the planet and, most importantly, the animals that we share this wonderful world with!

Regarding noni:

Noni was brought to Hawaii by the Polynesians. It's use is mainly as a medicinal, although it's said that noni was eaten as food in times of scarcity. It grows wild all over the undeveloped coastal areas of Hawaii, but is now also cultivated and sold internationally as a "natural" medicinal. It tastes pretty nasty (I mean NASTY) eaten fresh out of hand, but it's traditionally considered by Native Hawaiians as having important healing properties for many ailments.

If it didn't have medicinal properties, I can personally attest that you would have no other interest in eating it. (I mean yech!) A while ago I applied the fresh fruit to an oozing kind of cut I had on my leg, and the cut dried right up.

Anyone purchasing noni juice or noni supplements should be aware that unless it's labeled certified organic, it's probably been grown with a lot of herbicide and petroleum-based fertilizers.

Best wishes, -Ally

I guess I do read into things very (and I mean very) carefully.

I just don't see the High praises some of these fruits are getting when they should be more readily available.

Heck, you can even buy a Wild Oat's brand of Goji Berries. Now that seems to raise an eyebrow!!!


Why Vegan?
Because I have the most love and admiration for all animals of the earth!!!
a rawvegan hopeful, rawdev4life!!!

I think the Wikipedia article on goji (wolf) berries is intertesting:
[en.wikipedia.org]

It sort of gives both sides, but an interesting point I thought was that they are used in Chinses medicine for centuries and are discusses in writings from the 7th century - [en.wikipedia.org]

By the way, I'm a goji berry fan, I eat them daily and sell them in my online shop!

Rob

--
Rob Hull - Funky Raw
My blog: [www.rawrob.com]

I think Jackie is right that eating a variety of fruits is healthier than eating any single superfood fruit.

In my opinion Rawmark has a good point too. I'm not familiar with acai, but I know that although some fruits may be very wonderful eaten fresh where they grow, they can't always be shipped fresh to the mainland US. Here are some reasons:

-Many fresh fruits, particularly many tropical fruits (and possibly the goji berry), have a very short or fragile shelf life. If the shelf life is short, the fruits in their fresh state are not commercially viable for a distributor.

-Some fruits like noni are simply not eaten fresh out of hand because of how they taste.

-Many of the fruits grown in Hawaii contain larvae from the Mediteranean Fruit Fly. I think only pineapple can be legally shipped from Hawaii to the mainland US without first undergoing some process to kill fruitfly, like a hot water dip. That process often changes the texture and flavor of the fruit, and again the fruits are not commercially viable.

-Some fruits are in such high demand that there is simply a shortage of them. That probably applies to the mangostein and possibly to the goji berry. Mangosteins are in extremely high demand throughout Asia and Indonesia. Even here in Hawaii, the tree nurseries have had a difficult time obtaining seeds for mangostein seedlings. Goji berries are also a popular Asian item, having been distributed by herb companies throughout China and Japan long before they became valued as a superfood by US distributors. Also, since some of the goji berry brands are labeled "wildcrafted" (rather than cultivated), that would be an indication they are somewhat more difficult to come by.

-It is becoming more and more difficult for farmers everywhere to make a living by selling fresh produce because of shipping costs (made steeper by fresh fruit weight), spoilage, etc. So we have the unfortunate advent of the more profitable "value-added product". Value-added products are anything you buy in a package or a jar or a bottle, etc.

-There are also some fruits that require a very specialized growing environment, and they are difficult to grow anywhere but where they come from.

Best wishes, -Ally

I agree as well with Jackie and Ally. This idea of a "miracle food" isn`t very accurate. It`s about a varied amount of fruits, veggies, nuts etc.
And local is best. Nothing like eating locally produced food and supporting hard working farmers!

Oh, do I love Farmers Markets.

Goji berries are good but..........(there's that but aspect of mine)


Why Vegan?
Because I have the most love and admiration for all animals of the earth!!!
a rawvegan hopeful, rawdev4life!!!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/20/2006 12:08AM by rawdev.

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