There's a problem though: most of us wouldn't actually recognize "all-natural" fruits and vegetables if we saw them.
While today's methods of modifying foods are certainly more sophisticated than before, the principal is older than most of us realize. In fact, it's extremely likely that all of the foods you're eating are the result of some man-made modification, though the kind I'm referring to is generally known as domestication or selective breeding.
And so, let's take a look at how far our agricultural history has taken some of our favorite fruits and vegetables from what they once were.
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Watermelons used to look way less delicious.
Modern watermelons are also much redder because we've found a way to extend its placenta. What we can say? Apparently watermelon placenta is pretty tasty.
Wild carrots tend to look more like weeds than food,
but this is only because humans were able to take those thin, white roots and breed them into something more presentable. Some people still like eating wild carrots, but be careful not to mistake them for poisonous hemlock.
And wild eggplants don't look a thing like what we're used to.
Selective breeding has not only made them bigger–and purple–but also did away with those pesky spines.
Without modern corn, we'd still be eating Teosinte.
It has the same cob structure, but it's much smaller and has a bunch of hard seeds that humans replaced with soft kernels.
Speaking of hard seeds...
The wild bananas you may find in Papua New Guinea are generally a chore to eat and don't offer the taste and nutrition improvements offered by the domesticated bananas we've come to enjoy.
Domesticated peaches are a whole different beast.
All of the sweet, juicy qualities we associate with peaches are because of selective breeding. Earlier wild peaches were not only smaller, but reportedly tasted a bit salty and earthy, like lentils.
So many vegetables only exist because of wild cabbage breeding.
There's technically no such thing as wild broccoli, since it only exists as a 2,000-year-old mutation of the Brassica oleracea cabbage.
And it's not just broccoli and cabbage that came from wild cabbage.
That's right, Brussels sprouts and, yes, even the precious kale are only really modifications of the wild cabbage. It's funny to think about, but some of our healthiest vegetables are actually man-made.
Domesticated almonds don't just taste better, they're the only way we can eat them.
Wild almonds, notable for their bitter taste, can kill someone if even a couple of handfuls of them are eaten.
This is because they're loaded with cyanide, while a mutation that humans would replant and domesticate don't have any of the poison.
This is because they're loaded with cyanide, while a mutation that humans would replant and domesticate don't have any of the poison.
Grapefruits don't exist in the wild.
They first came about during the 18th century when oranges were cross-bred with the pummelo, pictured below. And the pink variety came about in the 20th century as a result of radiation from X-rays and gamma rays.
Domestication made tomatoes nice and plump, but it came at a price.
As the original, berry-sized tomatoes were modified over time, they lost some of the sugars and antioxidants that made them really flavorful.
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