Back In The Day:

Back in the day things were so much different than they are now. I grew up in a working class neighborhood where most of the residents worked at the local auto factory. We had a peach tree in our back yard and our neighbor had a pear tree, and across the street they had a cherry tree, and my best friend's grandparents who lived three doors down had an apple tree. We all had small gardens and we all shared with each other. 

We kids could go pick something off someone else's tree and no one would question or challenge us. Same with the garden, people shared with each other. We had neighborhood grocery stores where people would convert part of their house into a limited grocery where we could walk to get bread or hamburger, and some canned items. To my knowledge nothing like that exists today and if you pick an apple from someone's tree you would be arrested for trespassing. 

Our local grocery is one of three that will sell locally grown fruit. The others get fruit from other states or countries. It tastes pulpy and like cardboard. Local fruit is tasty and juicy - I know. I just had a peach that was heavenly. Also local sweet corn is far more tasty than imported corn which tastes like fodder. 

I grow carrots and to taste a home grown carrot and one from the store is a world's difference. I dream of "back in the day". Sadly nowadays people don't know the difference if they don't grow their own.