....or...more like mango frustration :-(

What is the deal with mangos these days?

I live in No. Cal and mangos have been on sale a lot lately, so I have been stocking up. Problem is almost all of them are no good! Therefore a waste of money..not good. It is very hard to tell a good mango. They can feel & look ripe but when you cut into it, will be dark & ugly looking. So I tried cutting ones that seem less ripe, and they too are dark inside. And today I had to throw away what looked like two perfectly good mangos because the were not ripe.

Is there a secret I don't know about for how to pick a good mango????

Much thanks,
Denise (recently back on raw)

Oh, man, that's disappointing. I usually get the champagne/atalfo mangoes, they aren't stringy.

I've had many bad ones and have taken them back to the store for credit many times.

I try to stick with green & red mangoes that feel close to ripe. I often smell them to make sure they don't smell off, because if they do, they tend to often taste poorly, like pesticides or something. If they're dark / blackish on the outside, they seem more likely to be inedible on the inside, and tend to rot from the inside out.

Mangos from some parts of India, and goodness knows where else(info is sketchy), are picked green and packed with carbide to force ripening. This can result in a stringy texture and under-ripe taste. Calcium carbide is a known carcinogen, also. I try to buy organic ones but their availability is spotty

Ahh, so that's what does it. I've had a hard time with stringy mangoes for the past year or so. At first I thought it was the hot water treatment for aphids, but then I got a case that was perfect even though treated with hot water.

These mangos came from Peru. I bought 13. Out of the 6 I opened 4 of them I had to thrown away. :-(

so should there not be any green on them? The produce guys says just because they are green does not mean they are not ripe. Hmmm

I totally hear you! I have had a very hard time finding decent mangos for the last few years. It sucks because mangos are one of my very favorite fruits! I had more luck with the champagne ones (oblong yellows) than the traditional ones. I have never had ones from India, either. I have a feeling that mangos are one of those fruits that should be picked close to ripe. I am wondering if pears are the same because when I sometimes get rock-hard pears, they don't ripen properly at all. So I am sticking to feeling them up at the produce stand and buying when they slightly give instead of when they are hard.

i find imported mangoes dissapointing time after time .. if they are not underripe they are almost rotting internally ... plus the taste of them is funky ..almost perfumey/alcholic like ...

i had mangoes in asis that were fresh and ripe and they tasted nothing like imported mangoes that reach canada

...Jodi, the banana eating buddhist

jgunn.....I thought all mangos were imported for somewhere. Where are they grown in the states?

sorry typo up there .. asis is supposed to read ASIA .. i have only had real fresh plant ripened mangoes in asia ..besides the dissapointing funk i get in canada no idea if they are grown in the states

...Jodi, the banana eating buddhist

Hawaii could probably grow some?lol

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Oh, mirror in the sky
What is love?
Can the child within my heart rise above?
Can I sail through the changing ocean tides?
Can I handle the seasons of my life?

US growth is limited to tropical-ish regions:

[www.mango.org]

I have pretty much cut tropical fruit out of our diet. Mostly because I can't stomach the energy spent getting it to me when there are local alternatives that are just fine. The only exception is banana which I use to make green smoothies tolerable for the kids but that's the only time we use them. As for mango, we happened to have one the other day, can't remember where it came from but it was a good one. The sort that is green, red and yellow on the outside. No bruising or stringy weirdness thankfully.

Amazing organic mangoes grown in California. The more we buy imported, the stronger it makes the local market. How? Well local farmers say 'hey! we can compete cos it cost less shipping, the demand is there, LETS DO IT!'.

Its happening now in Australia with durian, dates, blueberries. It started with bananas. Now its illegal to import fresh bananas into Australia.

Create demand. Supply follows. In the mean time we support the organic farmers that need our support as they fight against the GMO companies forcing most of them to grow livestock feed.

Most of my calories come from Californian dates. This year the local date farmer recorded his biggest sales ever. He didnt know what happend. I just put out a thread on our forum that you could get local dates and everyone went crazy and bought him out MONTHS ahead of when he normally sells out. He was shocked. We win. They win. By eating imported dates, our forum members got a taste for em. By buying him out, the farmer got support. By continuing to buy them imported now, the farmer has motivation to plant more date trees to make more sales.

Local is great but so many people just use that as an excuse to eat whatever and then they heat their homes from foreign fuels or timber, use imported computers or 'local' cars made from foreign materials. Forget local, focus on the bigger picture. Suport organic fruit forests internationally with your dollar. Every dollar we spend is a vote for what we believe in. I mean how on earth are organic farmers going to boom if everyone boycotts organic Ecuadorian bananas?

Wow, Harley, that was a really really useful though-provoking post. Thanks!

I buy local as much as possible but mangoes just do not grow in Canada. Or bananas, pineapple, dates, coconut, avocados, etc. Apples and pears, we eat lots of apples and pears around here.

The problem with organic is that it is not always fresh, if you go to the health food store, the organic greens look very unhealthy. I prefer local non organic, fresh mostly from Walmart. Organic is overrated.

Do you really believe that to be true? That organic is overrated? I don't know if the trade off is equal. Fresh because it is chemical laden and possibly sliced with dna from other creatures/sources or slightly less than fresh but as nature intended. That's a hard call...

I have been non organic for the last 10 years and my health has not suffered. I go for what is on sale at the local food store. This week it is raw potato, 10 pound bag is 1.99 dollars so I am into potato juice this week, very simple and cheap.
Organic is overrated.
The biggest improvement I saw in my health was from more juicing, liquidarianism and intermittent fasting (with dry fast), exercise, not from organic. I did organic years ago but it was too expensive and not very effective. I do grow indoor greens(wheatgrass and sunflower) that are organic so I am not saying organic is bad it is just that it is not highly rated in my view as most think. If I had to pick between fresh non organic vs organic and dry or pale, I will pick fresh non organic

huh, in all the organic produce ive purchased, ive noticed the opposite, a lot healthier looking, better flavor, maybe you just dont have any organic stuff grown near enough to you to get it there in a timely manner, check out local farmers markets if you haven't already, I have never seen organic produce at a farmers market look the way you describe... and often ifyou buy in b ulk they will give you big discounts (if asked for) making it cheaper than non-organic in the store, at least thats what i found for kale and carrots at my local farmers market be4 moving.

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Oh, mirror in the sky
What is love?
Can the child within my heart rise above?
Can I sail through the changing ocean tides?
Can I handle the seasons of my life?

Most local farmers are not growing organic produce or maybe I am having organic without knowing it and the last time I checked their stands are covered with ice and snow, I cannot wait. For example I need five to ten limes or lemons a day, it is so convenient to get them at the nearest store no matter where I am.

Hey, I buy lots of produce that isnt organic, I am only stating that organic produce is not inferior in quality as you state, I have never been to a farmers market in my life that hasnt had at least one person selling organic produce.

I agree organic IS over rated, but not with any of the points you make to back up that statement, organic has always tasted better to me, but its far to expensive when purchased in stores often, as I said, I do not purchase organic from stores except when on sale, as the prices are then as cheap or cheaper than normal produce... the chemical residue on non-organic produce is also not something to scoff at, as just about every pesticide used has been shown to have negative effects on a persons health... its not as pronounced in my opinion as many people on here act like it would be, im not gonna die from a non-organic apple...

and your statements about the time of year have nothing to do with the discussion, as you did not frame your original comments as "organic produce is horrible this time of year" you framed it as if it was horrible all of the time, who knows, maybe it is where you life... but that would be a first on me... as you where in the comment I replied to, i was talking in general, through out the growing season, obviously you cannot buy organic local produce at a farmers market while its snowing... that should go without saying.

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Oh, mirror in the sky
What is love?
Can the child within my heart rise above?
Can I sail through the changing ocean tides?
Can I handle the seasons of my life?

I never said that organic was inferior my point is that non organic is not as bad as people think. Organic may be superior in nutrients and quality but the rate of replenishment is very low because that is not what most people buy. Non organic is fresher in most stores because that is what most people buy which implies a higher rate of replenishment. My point is that I prefer to choose a fresher produce that may be non organic compared to an organic produce that was harvested weeks before.

Non-organic = sprayed with things that would kill you if you were sprayed with them (not to mention GMO). Then those chemicals blow around in the air and make their way into the water etc etc.
Not that I can afford to buy all organic but I would if I could.

i've been organic for 4 years 100%. Would never go back. I've been to farms that spray to see myself. There is no way i would eat something that has had that stuff sprayed on. Not to mention, it's not just what you are eating, it is our earth, water, air quality and the future of a clean earth you have to think about.
If you eat conventional foods you are in fact supporting these chemicals to be put into our earth. By the way, i dont make a whole lotta money and still can afford it. How? Buy in bulk!! Get to know your small organic health store produce managers and work it out.
Organic all the way!

Don't assume others have the resources to buy in bulk either please. I have two children to support, there isn't any way to afford all or even mostly organic and we live Very frugally already.

Organic farming cannot feed the world. [www.cosmosmagazine.com]

Amazing that it was doing a damn fine job of feeding the world before chemical companies came on to the scene.

Do you mean that organic is overrated because some think it's not sustainable or because you don't think the health impact of eating chemically grown foods is that bad?

50% of crops grown where i live ( in ontario ) go to junk food. 50% !!!
So can organic food feed the world? Yes it can, people need to just get off the
crap wagon and eat real food. Then farmers will have more land to grow organic food that is used for real nutrition.
I spend less on organic then people do on conventional. You can if you buy bulk and eat more of a simplistic lifestyle. I do believe that.