FRESH DIRECT IS GETTING STALE

Due to a disabling situation I have been getting my groceries delivered. It puts me in the situation that I am depending upon the store or company to do my shopping.  I had high hopes for Fresh Direct until lately. Yes, they do take off the cost if you have issues with the items.   However, what’s the point if most of the items have issues and I still need my groceries.

The first time I ordered artichokes, they came out perfect.  Totally closed, no brown spots, no pointy leaves to stab you, meaty stem, and when cooked, the “hair” on the top of the heart didn’t even have to be removed.  Not so now.  They are already brown, bitter near the stem which you can’t even use.  I don’t know if all artichokes that you buy everywhere are coming from this same company out in California.  Perhaps they need to change the company or they just don’t care.   Then again, is the person “shopping” choosing the best there is?

My last order had a bunch of bananas…Dole.  It came not just in the plastic bag, but was engulfed in some kind of rubbery paper.  As usual, I put the whole thing on my counter to ripen.  A few days later, I tested to see if they were ripe.  Opening the cushy thing I noticed one loose banana.  I thought that perhaps an extra banana was added due to there not being enough in the bunch.  I put that one in the fridge to eat.  Later, I took the rest and threw it in the fridge vegetable bin.  The next day, wanting another banana, I was about to open the plastic bag but there was a hole already in it.  Inside, one the bananas was separated from the bunch.  I tasted it and it was mushy, not like soft due to being overripe.

I thought I’d save a bit on fish by getting the small chunks of fresh fish.  “Whatever is in the catch” as they say.  It’s supposed to be mixed according to the website and photo.  I did it a few times and concluded that I’m getting the sort of leftovers from when the fish are trimmed, like the part of the salmon closest to the skin.   I can taste this when I cook it up. 

I tried an avocado that wasn’t a Hass.  It didn’t ripen until 6 days later, was already brown on the outside and tasted awful.  

Ready- made food. Oy!  They have a kitchen and access to fresh foods.  Yet, it is obvious that they use canned or jarred vegetables.   One salad had a hard- boiled egg.  They used eggs that are pre-hard boiled and containing some solution.  Deli meats.  Pre-cooked bacon.  Enough with the additives!!  What’s “fresh” about that?

I did a comparison on dates with Ronnybrook Farms milk.  Sell by date was less than two weeks whereas getting it at the Green Market in Forest Hills had a longer date.   Hmm…they are coming today to replace pork chops that had a “best if used date” 3 days away from the evening it was delivered.  Package is weighing 1.37 lbs. vs the package being picked up weighing 1.78 lbs.  Not getting charged for the switch but price is higher due to their raising the price. Not my fault.  Customer service must be getting tired of my voice.   

I had been ordering ground beef with the Pat LaFrieda name on it.  Now I find out that the meat you find in your supermarket that is sealed is injected was gases to make it look fresh.  No law saying that it has to be labeled.  I think it’s time to go to the butcher and do my own cooking.   More problems with store bought beef. Tune in next week.