How about an Interesting as HECK thread???

[Maxmars]

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I lived over in SE Asia for a while (where cashews come from), and yes, it is a fruit, but it's a crazy fruit indeed.
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I've been to places where people pay hundreds of dollars for a bowl of cashew nuts, toasted and/or smoked to absolute perfection.  It's a spectacular treat.

Now, here in the US, I can hardly eat cashew nuts anymore (yes, I got spoiled).  What's available here is just laughable.

I too have had the good (or bad) experience of spending years in other countries, but most of what I have learned echoes what you say here...

Mangos, Avocados, Grapefruits, Bananas, and many more are among those things which I see in the supermarket and immediately utter a sad grunt... what passes for fruit here in the States breaks my heart.  

Tiny, dry, rock-hard, shriveled, overly cultivated, freeze dried, gas cured in a cargo container, most fruit that hasn't seen the sun for months as it's offered up for top dollar as 'a deal.'

It's almost a good thing that most American consumers are totally unaware of how good some food stuffs are... because no one would buy what is offered if they understood that what they are getting is dregs, or garbage so very substandard as to be virtually unsellable in the countries where they are produced locally.

... and don't get me stated on meat and fish...  or chocolate.