There's A Reason Strawberries Don't Taste As Sweet As They Used To

If you feel like the strawberries of your youth were much sweeter, it may not be just nostalgia or your imagination. Most strawberries you find in the supermarket these days are actually less sweet, but it has nothing to do with farmers forgetting how to grow sweet strawberries or factory farms not providing the fruit with the nutrients it needs to be sweet. The reason you need to resort to tricks to add flavor to bland strawberries is largely due to shipping them long distances.

To supply your grocery store with year-round strawberries in regions where they are hard to grow, suppliers resort to large, firm varieties that end up being less sweet. The most common variety sold in supermarkets is the Monterey. Large, firm, and bright red, the Monterey catches shoppers' eyes as they push carts in a rush to get home through the produce aisle. Montereys are sweet, but sweeter options exist. Plus, they are often picked before peak ripeness. Perfectly ripe strawberries are soft, making them difficult to ship cross country. Unfortunately, strawberries won't continue to ripen and get sweeter after they've been picked.

Those who live somewhere that grows a lot of strawberries, like California, which grows the most, can still find the berry-from-memory. Varieties like the Hood strawberry grown in Oregon are intensely sweet, soft, and need to be eaten or used in recipes only hours after they are picked. If you don't live in Oregon, the berry is worth a trip to visit during its short season. During strawberry season, wherever you are, to find ripe, sweet strawberries that can't be shipped far, look to high-end grocery stores that sell local produce, farmers markets, farm stands, and — best of all — farms where you pick your own.

Or, you can grow your own. There are many varieties of strawberry you may not have heard of that can grow in your garden. Strawberries can be grown in every state, in growing zones three to 10. Each region will have varieties that fare better than others — even Alaska has native strawberry plants that grow well in a home garden.