deteriorating quality of fruits in the Philippines

No the quality of fruits is not deteriorating. Fruits are qualified according to sizes and kind. Take the example of the mangoes. Most that we see available in the markets are the third class quality of fruits. Why? Because the fruits are directly delivered to big companies for processing as fruits juices and puree. The company I used to work for receives a daily supply of at least 30 tons of mangoes for the months starting March to June. Even before the trees bear the fruits, there are already middlemen transacting with the farmers on the produce for the season. There are lot of companies in the Philippines purchasing the fruits in bulk and this is not only for mangoes but bananas or what we call as the cavendish. Some of the fruits that are of first class quality are exported abroad to countries who do not have the fruits that we have. What is left for us the ordinary citizens are the rejects after the companies have taken their pick of the best.

I'm also at a loss here because not only has the quality of our local fruits deteriorated, they have become expensive too. Gone are the days where you can walk a couple of paces and then just pick fruits from trees. Even the price of imported fruits are expensive too. I used to be able to buy bananas for P20 for five to six pieces in the grocery. Now, I have to shell out P60 or more if I want bananas that aren't over ripe yet. Maybe it's because we no longer have that much trees or farms? I know that in the '90's and early 2000 a lot of farmlands have been sold by owners and these have been converted into subdivisions. Maybe the long term effect of this (the selling of land that was used to cultivate crops) is what we are experiencing now. I have nothing against those farmer who would rather get a lump sum than toil the lands. It is sad because we are seeing this everywhere. I visited the Cordilleras where the land is rich and fertile for growing crops. But the problem is that the farmers are getting old and the next generation is no longer willing to farm. It's because of our colonial mentality and thinking that anything western and "cultured" is good, and that being a poor farmer is shameful because they have been long tagged as being ignorant. It is sad because our mentality should have changed ten, twenty years ago that these farmers are better than a lot of us because they are the ones who literally produce the food on our tables. I will not be surprised in another ten years when it is ironic that we have lands that can be farmed but we would need to import food from neighboring countries because we no longer have farmers.