Can someone explain to me why a jar of strawberry jam had to be imported from Egypt and a box...

[TreasonousBastard]

of oranges from Morrocco?

[orleans]

1. well, i googled because i have no idea what the f*ck you're talking about

and lo and behold, here's the headline that might explain that jam
"Strawberry Jam Market 2021 – Identify New Opportunities in Countries and Regions"
https://bisouv.com/uncategorized/3603996/strawberry-jam-market-2021-identify-new-opportunities-in-countries-and-regions/

hope this helps answer at least part of your question

i did not google anything about oranges and morrocco

[Hugh_Lebowski]

2. Perhaps there are people from Egypt in the United States who are partial to a particular

brand of Strawberry Jam from their Homeland?

Or ... maybe even there's non-Egyptians that like it?

Safe bet that the answer boils down to 'because someone wants to buy it'.

[GulfCoast66]

3. Can't speak for the jam. I guess people like it.

But Oranges? Few parts of America can grow them. Especially mandarins which are so easy to eat. Not grown much here in Florida. California can grow them, but not enough to supply the nation.

My wife loves a French brand of jams. Is that a problem? I’m more a honey guy and buy from local producers.

We buy what we like.

[NCjack]

10. My wife and I prefer Austrian sour cherry preserves. Best ever!

[Rollo]

13. I'm in Northern California and have more oranges growing here than I can eat...

I have noticed the warmer temps for the past few years have resulted in better orange yields as well. I don't think we have had any freezing weather in this location (East Bay Area) this winter. Although we did get some hail one afternoon. The orange trees shrugged it off.

I've been donating oranges to a local shelter...

[msfiddlestix]

26. I'm in North Bay, my experience with oranges here tend to be somewhat bitter, but they do produce

quite a bit. Oakland lends itself to better quality, I think it has to do with more moderate temps there. I know that Meyers Lemons are out of this world there. My daughter lives in Fruitvale and I benefit from the myriad of fruit trees in her back yard.

[Ms. Toad]

4. Context? n/t

[NBachers]

5. What happened after that?

[Hugh_Lebowski]

9. He fixes the cable (nt)

[Kali]

6. because they are grown or produced in those locations?

[Celerity]

7. Global supply and demand market functioning.

[dilby]

8. Because US Jelly is terrible.

It’s nasty, should not even be allowed to be called Jam, UK and the rest of the world makes far superior Jam.

[Rollo]

12. Jam and jelly are two different things...

AFAIK. I tend to prefer jam, because it seems to have more flavor and character. But I can't remember the last time I purchased a jar of either.

[alphafemale]

17. I've made my own jams and jellies.

Not recently. But it is a fairly simple process.

[Oneironaut]

21. You've got to get local preserves or jam, not the commercial crap.

They’re usually sold by farms and homemade. Yummy!

The commercial stuff is corn syrup in a bottle and is more like a science experiment than food.

[USALiberal]

22. LOL, ok! Nt

[Hortensis]

11. Darn, can't remember what, but when reading about supply chain issues,

I learned that large amounts of some common product are shipped halfway around the planet for lower-cost processing and then shipped back to continue production into the final product. Expect that's the case with many others.

Reminds me of the CA gold rush days when some miners with the wherewithal sent their clothes to Hawaii for laundering.

[mahina]

14. Wut

[DFW]

15. Local taste, maybe?

When I'm in the States, I look at the ingredients of what I buy, and much of the jam I see is made with high fructose corn syrup, an ingredient widely reputed to be a dangerous additive. Not only jam, for that matter. I noticed last time that many brands of cocktail sauce for shrimp (we always go to Cape Cod) have it, too, even such otherwise good brands such as Bookbinders and Crosse & Blackwell. Legal Sea Foods brand doesn't use it, so we buy that. High fructose corn syrup is not listed as an ingredient here in the EU, presumably because they know as well as the Americans that it can be bad news. The USA still permits it, so we have to look to avoid it. We don't care where our jam comes from as long as HFCS isn't in it. Smuckers always uses it, so we never buy that brand.

As for the oranges, no idea. I remember when I was little, my dad was all excited to bring home Jaffa oranges, imported from Israel, and they were pretty good. Were better ones grown in California or Florida? No idea. Maybe the Israeli ones were cheaper? I can't imagine getting them to Virginia on a boat was cheaper than trucking them in from the west coast or the gulf coast, but I'm not in the produce business, and have no idea. I don't even know if Morocco bans Roundup.

The EU wanted to ban Roundup and brands containing glyphosate, a known carcinogen, but then Bayer, a German firm, bought up Monsanto (no one has yet figured out why), and the ban on Roundup was shelved for at least five years. The USA by no means has a monopoly on corruption.

For a few years, DU was monitored by a Monsanto operative who only posted when someone posted about the ills of pesticides, and Monsanto's Roundup in particular, and this poster ONLY showed up to trash people who warned about the dangers of Glyphosate. I guess they must have gotten a higher position in Monsanto's management, or else joined the Trump campaign, or some such job, because they no longer show up here.

[KT2000]

16. most pickles come from India

except for Mt. Olive brand and the gourmet brands.

[hlthe2b]

18. Well, there are delicacies the world over that one would love to eat if they could $$$

Now, I don't buy any of it because I can't justify the $$, but that doesn't mean I wouldn't. Morrocans prize their oranges in a number of dishes, so there must be a specific variety that is hard to find or not grown here?

In years past, I have purchased an imported Lavender honey from France that was genuinely the best honey I ever had. (it was produced from bees-fed lavender and not merely honey with lavender essence added as you will find in the US). I haven't had it in years, but I'd buy it again if it were not so expensive.

[brooklynite]

19. I buy all of my extra virgin olive oil from Lebanon...

Are you opposed to world trade?

[Towlie]

20. That's not quite as outrageous as imported bottles of water.

 
?

[onenote]

23. "Had to be"?

Do you think there is some requirement that these things be imported? Or that folks having a choice of products is troublesome? Not sure why you asked the question.

[NightWatcher]

24. Trade deals. We buy their stuff, they buy ours, and middlemen mark everything up.

Thank you for attending this TedTalk.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

25. It doesn't have to be. It just is.