Certain cultural gifting practices make these important for the rich. They buy way overpriced consumables because they can't offer direct bribes and need to maintain face.
In 2023, there were deaths reported on a Del Monte pineapple farm in Kenya. A 2024 report said that there was evidence of human rights violations on that farm.
This is why we can’t have nice things. Or why we have nice things. Or both.
In godfather 2, one of the crime syndicates trying to set up a stake in the Cuban casinos with the mob is a giant fruit company. Knowing that the movie takes inspiration from real organized crime dealings in Cuba at the time, I looked into the fruit companies and their history, and it is one of the most atrocious human rights clusterfucks I've ever heard of.
Right? It’s shocking. I only learned about it recently when I started buying pineapples regularly and found out there are only a few companies in the world that produce them. And most if not all of them are incredibly shady and responsible for some truly terrible shit.
Those look like yellow villagio marzano tomatoes. Big fan of the elongated varieties because you can slice them longways and fit more on a pan than round ones.