I swear it feels like any produce I buy goes bad within a couple of days of purchasing. However, I know that these onions, for example, have been grown, picked and harvested weeks ago.
In: Biology
I work in this industry.
The reasons for this are many, interacting and dynamic. For any given product the reason may change. However, the following are the main reasons:
Time from farm to market to retailer to shelf… each leg of the chain is controlled by different groups with differing agendas. What takes 48 hours one trip might take 96 the next
Condition from farm to market to retailer to shelf… As above but now think temperature and humidity
Original harvest quality… different regions even different fields within a farm have different onditions, which change the way product degrades.
In theory this can all be managed very tightly and consistently, but in reality the complexity of our food supply chains makes it very difficult.
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