Right. There was a guy who grew strawberries near where I grew up, and still does, and he will only pick them:
1. When they are ripe
2. In the afternoon of a day when the sun shone in the morning

He claims the #2 point is critical, as he claims that strawberries need about 2 hours or more of sun prior to picking, so that the sweetest and other flavors will be maximized.

So if you drop by on a day with a cloudy morning, he won’t sell you strawberries!

That’s well-known. (Too much) nitrogen enhances vegetative growth and increases water retention. Makes for more money on fruit and vegetables that are sold per pound, but does not increase the total amount of sugars, vitamins, etc. contained in the material. Conversely, it often delays ripening, makes the plants and fruit more prone to disease, often reduces shelf life after ripening, and may lower the total amount of beneficial or flavor compounds.

There must be a lot of publications out there, here are a couple from a quick google search:

http://hortsci.ashspublications.org/content/42/6/1490.full

http://staff.unud.ac.id/~madeutama/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/vit-c-content-hort.pdf

And to dave chamberlin’s point, the seed industry has absolutely no interest in this, at least not THE seed industry. I can see A&Ms doing it, though. In Texas they actually sell some of their patented products, so awesome GM tomatoes could be a real thing. I’m only against GM when it supports monocropping agribiz stupidity, not when it’s improving the quality and nutrition of a crop. I’m not above a tomacco.

I have to disagree, demanding yuppies gave me wonderful coffee and beer, now they need to next clamour for a tomatoe that tastes like the heirloom varieties plucked straight off the vine. I am not waiting, I already grow tomatoes and thanks to my green thumb I grow enough for a small army. It is rediculously easy to grow tomatoes that yeild 50 pounds of tomatoes per plant. Only two things you can’t buy are love and homegrown tomatoes.

Right. I grew up in Ireland and can say that I’ve never tasted Tomatoes or Strawberries in the USA that were as tasty s those in Ireland.

My wife raves about “New Jersey Tomatoes”, but when I saw the large, bulging tomatoes she was referring to, I said they looked like “Beef Tomatoes”

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beefsteak_(tomato)

Sure enough, when I had some, that’s exactly what they were. In Ireland, they are strictly used for cooking – in stuff like stews – not for eating raw. In Ireland they are regarded as the lowest quality tomatoes, while here they are regarded as the best?!

Same for Strawberries, in Ireland they are small and tasty, here they are huge and bland. MY wife had strawberries in Ireland and confirmed that she had never tasted better.

“using little and low-N fertilizers leads to fruits and vegetables that are much more “concentrated”, with lower water content, and a much longer room-temperature shelf life in my home after ripening.”

Can you say more on this? Is this from your own garden or published results?

Strawberries are a good example – but there are many others:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/food/2012/05/do-strawberries-taste-as-good.shtml
Research has shown that wild varieties contain a lot more different flavor agents, and a higher concentration of them.

I grow a lot of (heirloom or non-commercial) herbs, fruits, and vegetables myself, and the difference can be mind-boggling (e.g., tomatoes, blueberries, mandarins, carrots, cherries, etc.). In addition to the above, using little and low-N fertilizers leads to fruits and vegetables that are much more “concentrated”, with lower water content, and a much longer room-temperature shelf life in my home after ripening.

But yes, I am certain there are many complex links between these genetic expressions, and selecting for transport properties and an even coloration should not be done without monitoring other important qualities and according back-cross-breeding to capture those.

No biggie, the link in the NY Times story works, but I’m just saying.