I'm going to have to disagree with you on this one. I come from the "Apple Capital of the World" and it's all about local fruit. We ship out our fruit everywhere in the world, and it's not going to be anywhere near as good when it gets to you as it was when I ate it. We make the best apples hands down, but nothing compares to your local fruit if you are fortunate enough to have good orchards.
Basically what I'm getting at is that American fruit that's taken care of on the way to your mouth is great. If your local fruit tastes like this, then it's just not good fruit.
The problem is with early picking and forced ripening to allow longer selling distances and better shelf life. I agree with you completely, too. I live in an ag-heavy southern state and the local produce we get is as good as any I've had anywhere. I actually live next door to a strawberry farm and we take the kids to pick them a few times every spring. :)
Basically what I'm getting at is that American fruit that's taken care of on the way to your mouth is great. If your local fruit tastes like this, then it's just not good fruit.