You’re welcome 😊

What we can do in terms of breeding varies significantly between crops - tomato’s a breeze, apples are hard, potato used to be a nightmare but is improving rapidly. If you’re interested in modern seed, I’d recommend turning to a breeding company.

For example, Rijk Zwaan are a major supplier in Europe for a number of crops. https://rijkzwaan.co.uk/home

Happy growing!

I’m glad it was interesting! I think we’ll all appreciate more variety in our diets.

The apples you mentioned are a good example of this. Apple breeders used to always breed the flavour away in favour of looks since that’s what sells. When one guy bred a tasty apple, only for his colleagues to make it tasteless again, he decided to brand it and enforce some quality control. Breeders were very skeptical, and few could imagine that consumers would care about what apple variety they’re eating - do you know what type of potato or cucumber you buy? But in the end, consumers proved willing to engage and branded apples are now widespread. Tenderstem broccoli has recently inspired Brassica breeders to start branding and marketing their new varieties.

I’m involved with some breeders trying to do the same with potatoes!

Not quite, but close! Molecular plant breeder here.

There is no set “limit” to flavour but it’s a complex trait that is easy to lose if you don’t select for it. If you breed for size, and don’t track taste, it’s very easy to leave the flavour-producing aspects unchanged, thus resulting in a “dilution”. Furthermore, you’re often actively selecting against flavour, indirectly and unintentionally, by selecting for shelf life - if something doesn’t ripen, it won’t over-ripen and spoil.

This is what has historically happened to a lot of produce but it doesn’t have to be the case - modern breeding lets us breed for flavour and nutrition too! Heirloom varieties can offer some reprieve, but for all their taste they tend to be quite unproductive and sickly (ofter “heirloom” means inbred and that does not produce very fit organisms).

Good news is, new varieties are being bred that have it all - yield, taste, and nutrition! It’s just hard to convince consumers and businesses to switch over to new varieties, as you don’t really buy according to the flavour, just the looks.

Greetings from the UK ;)

I know the coffee bit is bullshit (https://coffeeabout.com/coffee-consumption-by-country/) so likely the other stuff is too

I don’t see how these claims are supported by the research in question?

The main reason is that the article is paywalled (disappointed to see the authors chose to publish in a non-open access journal in 2024) but judging purely by the abstract it seems like this is just a study showing an association between being a black woman in Georgia and signs of stress-induced health issues? Also, they didn’t seem to have a control group?

The negative effects of chronic stress are well-known but in the linked article this is spun into a weird narrative about microaggressions with seemingly no evidence for it? I am surprised to see the first author of the scientific article deviate so much from the published findings in her journalistic article.