[jackhack]

You're quite right. I have a friend who moved to the US from a small european village. He commented that the food here is very intense -- all of the flavors are exaggerated and nothing tastes real. Too much salt, too much sugar, too much artificial... everything. Even the beef, he said, is intense in its flavor (a consequence of corn fed vs grass-fed cattle?) but ironically, the chicken is quite bland.

It is my own observation that supermarket/farm vegetables are often bland compared to "backyard" varieties. Most people have no idea how flavorful a simple tomato can be until they've had an "ugly" heirloom tomato left on the vine until ripe.