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Comment by corybrown | Hacker News Reader

> In the tasting panels, there were noticeable differences in preferences: between men and women, between foodies and nonfoodies, and, perhaps most interesting, between older people and younger people. He recalled one of the students working in his laboratory picking out the supermarket tomato as her favorite in one of the taste tests.

People like what they know. But I'm guessing repeated exposure could end up shifting the tastes.

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Yeah, that doesn't seem like a very objective way to test this kind of thing. We know, based on all kinds of testing done in the past, that our tastebuds react more sensitively to tastes that we don't know to protect us from potentially eating foods that are poisonous or rotten. It's the reason why you have to develop a taste for things like bleu cheese and cilantro and why they taste bitter or strong at first. We're "programmed" to like foods that we've tasted before and are used to and that we know are safe to eat. When you introduce a flavor for something that we "know" what it's supposed to taste like, we naturally are averse to that taste. It's the same reason that people develop taste aversions to foods that they've gotten sick from or why people can't drink a liquor that they've had a terrible experience with. Your tastebuds "recognize" that this taste or flavor got you sick last time and prepare your body for it.

Do you have any citations? This all sounds so obvious and logical but so do most other theories in evolutionary psychology and biology. I don't think we have enough evidence to make such strong claims.

I developed a taste for spicy food after years of avoiding it like the plague for digestive reasons but only found out after I had a strong craving for Indian food and accidentally got something really spicy. I also can't bring myself to order tortas because I ate one too soon after getting really sick from tacos. Reading the word "tortas" makes me feel nauseous but "tacos" does not and I can eat both without any negative response (once the food is in front of me). These examples are orthogonal to yours but I think they're illustrative of just how complex the interactions are. I don't doubt the adaptations you mentioned are there, just how prelevant they are in a modern agricultural society.

Wikipedia actually has a fairly good overview of the idea: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conditioned_taste_aversion

You can find more info on Google Scholar for specific studies and papers.

I think people are often too harsh on supermarket produce. Obviously they factor in time spent during transport, but the growers have ridiculous amounts of experience in what they do.

I grow 6-7 different types of tomatoes in my backyard (including heirloom types). Some are good, some varieties are bland. Have had a few supermarket cherry tomatoes recently that have been great, and similar experiences with others.

Often I end up picking my own tomatoes before they're perfectly ripe anyway to lessen the chance of birds/bugs/rats beating me to it. Little different to growers picking early for transport.

I also grow two different types of strawberries. They're good, but so are those we get in shops.

I'm curious to hear how the men/women split fits into the "people like what they know" paradigm. Is the grocery store secretly swapping out my tomatoes but not my partner's?

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