science takes 20 years to figure out what most of us already knew?

[greybeard]

How to take something simple and complicate it

Culture actually has a huge impact on our taste preferences,” Klee says. “I’m extremely worried that we’re raising generations of young people who have never experienced a really good tomato.”
When an undergraduate working on the project selected a supermarket-bought tomato from the taste-test lineup as her favorite, saying that it was just like the tomatoes her mother bought, Klee was exasperated.
“I just left,” Klee says with a laugh. “I thought, my god, what have we done?”

I wonder who paid for all this 'research'?

Do they have their head up their butts for the warmth?

 

[shaz]

I married into a family that's 100% city folk. Can't relate to anyone and they can't relate to me but they like the beef.

We were playing Taboo at Christmas and one of the cards I couldn't guess was some designer clothes brand name. Son in law says "You don't know what THAT IS!"? I replied that I was not gay. Had we been I the farm I would have grabbed an impact wrench and said "Do you know what this is"?

 

[backhoeboogie]

Vine ripe fruit drives them nuts. My boysenberry jelly is a big hit with these city kids who have never had home made jelly. How do people get to be adults and never experience vine ripe fruit or home made jelly?

 

[wbvs58]

Researchers produce the results that will produce doubt that will lead them to more funding to possibly clarify the situation but ask more questions so more funding so they can live in their little enclaves and eat nuts and muesli with their like minded little friends in the lunch room.

Ken

 

[Son of Butch]

Klee says. “I’m extremely worried that we’re raising generations of young people who have never experienced a really good tomato.”

If that is what makes for an Extreme Worry, I'd say either he's got a pretty good life or he's ultra sensitive.

 

[TexasBred]

Vine ripe fruit drives them nuts. My boysenberry jelly is a big hit with these city kids who have never had home made jelly. How do people get to be adults and never experience vine ripe fruit or home made jelly?

City folks only know whats sold at the supermarket. Period !!!! I can imagine a vine ripened tomato would taste bad to them because it would be a foreign taste unlike anything they had ever experienced. Same for greens and many other things. I've never tasted half the stuff some of these TV cooks use let alone eaten the finished product.

 

[sim.-ang.king]

Vine ripe fruit drives them nuts. My boysenberry jelly is a big hit with these city kids who have never had home made jelly. How do people get to be adults and never experience vine ripe fruit or home made jelly?

City folks only know whats sold at the supermarket. Period !!!! I can imagine a vine ripened tomato would taste bad to them because it would be a foreign taste unlike anything they had ever experienced. Same for greens and many other things. I've never tasted half the stuff some of these TV cooks use let alone eaten the finished product.

Just like people drinking well water not liking the taste of city water, and visa versa.

 

[Ryder]

I married into a family that's 100% city folk. Can't relate to anyone and they can't relate to me but they like the beef.

We were playing Taboo at Christmas and one of the cards I couldn't guess was some designer clothes brand name. Son in law says "You don't know what THAT IS!"? I replied that I was not gay. Had we been I the farm I would have grabbed an impact wrench and said "Do you know what this is"?

You could tell him this cowboy does not even know what a taboo card game is.
But I do know about post hole diggers, tractors, and things like castrating certain unfit males to protect the gene pool from further degradation.

 

[boondocks]

How to take something simple and complicate it

Culture actually has a huge impact on our taste preferences,” Klee says. “I’m extremely worried that we’re raising generations of young people who have never experienced a really good tomato.”
When an undergraduate working on the project selected a supermarket-bought tomato from the taste-test lineup as her favorite, saying that it was just like the tomatoes her mother bought, Klee was exasperated.
“I just left,” Klee says with a laugh. “I thought, my god, what have we done?”

I wonder who paid for all this 'research'?

Do they have their head up their butts for the warmth?

I'm confused. What is it specifically that you think "we" already knew?
Are you saying we've known for years what specific genes were responsible for flavor in tomatoes? Because that's what they have been working out, per a very brief skim of the article. I for one am not ashamed to say I was unaware what genes control flavor in tomatoes.
Tomatoes have been bred for early maturing, for size, for shelf like, durability etc. Of course, we all know what that has done to the flavor. But I'm not aware that it's "common knowledge" what specific genes contribute to flavor, such that we can engineer it back in.

In terms of who paid for it, I looked at the first several publications listed on his CV and it's a combination of public and private funding; some of the public funding is from the Chinese government. At any rate, if it amounts to anything, the technology will be licensed (or transferred) to a private company.

 

[greybeard]

It's common knowledge (to most of us) how to grow tomatoes that look good and have great flavor, and it didn't take any of us mere mortals 25 years to learn how to do it.

 

[boondocks]

It's common knowledge (to most of us) how to grow tomatoes that look good and have great flavor, and it didn't take any of us mere mortals 25 years to learn how to do it.

I'm sure you do, GB. I do not have that knack! But growing them for home use versus mass-growing and shipping them cross-country is two different things. Do you not agree that most grocery stores 'maters are crap? Surely, if they could make them taste better for those of us without a green thumb (or green space), that would be a good thing, no?

Do you save your seeds? We had some seeds from a tomato variety my granddad called Oligee. He grew wonderful tomatoes but after he passed, none of us could get them to grow--the seeds were a few years old by then.

 

[Nesikep]

It's common knowledge (to most of us) how to grow tomatoes that look good and have great flavor, and it didn't take any of us mere mortals 25 years to learn how to do it.

I'm sure you do, GB. I do not have that knack! But growing them for home use versus mass-growing and shipping them cross-country is two different things. Do you not agree that most grocery stores 'maters are crap? Surely, if they could make them taste better for those of us without a green thumb (or green space), that would be a good thing, no?

Do you save your seeds? We had some seeds from a tomato variety my granddad called Oligee. He grew wonderful tomatoes but after he passed, none of us could get them to grow--the seeds were a few years old by then.

Was it by chance Ogilvie? Oglevie? I seem to remember that name for a tomato from a McFayden catalog years ago

I'm fortunate enough to know what really good food is.. Everything on our table is simple, but tasty. From bread from our own wheat, to carrots, taters, tomatoes, etc from the garden, beef, cheese, and even our own sunflower oil.. we really do eat like kings

 

[boondocks]

Was it by chance Ogilvie? Oglevie? I seem to remember that name for a tomato from a McFayden catalog years ago

I'm fortunate enough to know what really good food is.. Everything on our table is simple, but tasty. From bread from our own wheat, to carrots, taters, tomatoes, etc from the garden, beef, cheese, and even our own sunflower oil.. we really do eat like kings

He called it Oligee. I think it was from a neighbor by that name. Best tomatoes ever, although I never did like them fried/green. :yuck: Is that a "thing" in Canada too?

All my grandparents had a green thumb but I did not inherit it. Nor my cousin Annie Oakley's shooting prowess. Someday I'll figure out what I'm good at! Painting, and finding interesting uses for old stuff, I think....Also found out I like to tile. Can't eat tile tho.

 

[lavacarancher]

Gee whiz, Mr Boondocks. I've read several topics where you have responded and not one response from you was on the positive side. Who pizzed in your corn flakes?

 

[shaz]

I married into a family that's 100% city folk. Can't relate to anyone and they can't relate to me but they like the beef.

We were playing Taboo at Christmas and one of the cards I couldn't guess was some designer clothes brand name. Son in law says "You don't know what THAT IS!"? I replied that I was not gay. Had we been I the farm I would have grabbed an impact wrench and said "Do you know what this is"?

You could tell him this cowboy does not even know what a taboo card game is.
But I do know about post hole diggers, tractors, and things like castrating certain unfit males to protect the gene pool from further degradation.

Didn't think of that but I did let the phrase "metro-sexual" slip out.

 

[backhoeboogie]

Just like people drinking well water not liking the taste of city water, and visa versa.

Funny. You're right. Back when the kids came home from college the first thing they wanted to do was take a shower. It seems that chlorinated water just didn't rinse off.

 

[boondocks]

Gee whiz, Mr Boondocks. I've read several topics where you have responded and not one response from you was on the positive side. Who pizzed in your corn flakes?

:lol2: I usually stay pretty upbeat but admit the constant, knee-jerk science bashing (not just on CT but in the US) has got my dander up lately. I was raised to value the work of the hands AND the work of the mind. In my family, you were expected to have both going on! My mom taught jr high science out of a college textbook (she was granted a Fulbright to teach in England. Her school wouldn't give her the semester sabbatical, because they said she was irreplaceable). My dad's folks were both teachers, as is an aunt. An uncle is a (now-retired) college bio prof. So, yeah, I do get prickly when people decide that willful ignorance is a good thing and scientists are evil. Maybe we need another Sputnik to wake us up. Science/tech is responsible for so much of our lives today. I would very respectfully submit that given the age (to say nothing of lifestyle habits) of many of our brethren at CT, I daresay more than one of us owes our current above-ground state to science. I know for a fact it saved my son when he was born 2 mos early to the day.

 

[sim.-ang.king]

You're right, why have we all been so blind to the true value of tomatomato preference science?

Maybe tomatomato science will be the next sputnik, and be the first step to getting to the moon!

 

[boondocks]

You're right, why have we all been so blind to the true value of tomatomato preference science?

Maybe tomatomato science will be the next sputnik, and be the first step to getting to the moon!

Don't need a moonshot, just a decent tomato for my BLT. :cboy:

 

[Ebenezer]

Gee whiz, Mr Boondocks. I've read several topics where you have responded and not one response from you was on the positive side. Who pizzed in your corn flakes?

:lol2: I usually stay pretty upbeat but admit the constant, knee-jerk science bashing (not just on CT but in the US) has got my dander up lately. I was raised to value the work of the hands AND the work of the mind. In my family, you were expected to have both going on! My mom taught jr high science out of a college textbook (she was granted a Fulbright to teach in England. Her school wouldn't give her the semester sabbatical, because they said she was irreplaceable). My dad's folks were both teachers, as is an aunt. An uncle is a (now-retired) college bio prof. So, yeah, I do get prickly when people decide that willful ignorance is a good thing and scientists are evil. Maybe we need another Sputnik to wake us up. Science/tech is responsible for so much of our lives today. I would very respectfully submit that given the age (to say nothing of lifestyle habits) of many of our brethren at CT, I daresay more than one of us owes our current above-ground state to science. I know for a fact it saved my son when he was born 2 mos early to the day.

Good point on science that we can all apply to cattle breeding: the selection for specific traits can eliminate the other traits that we did not know we were going to miss. The selection process is often thought of as "gene concentration" as in dominate and recessive, but it can also be "gene elimination". So, the good old bull stories might be enhanced to recall the days and glory of our youth and past cattle but they might have actually been better cattle. Every conception can bring changes due to genetic noise, incomplete transfer or gene pairing that allows recessives to reappear. Throw in mutations, genes switching on and off, gestational programming and the genetic roll of the dice and things can go other than planned. Thankfully we do not see many of the results that are bad as the embryonic death does away with some of the worst.