Where are all the pomegranates?

I live in New Jersey and I remember, last year we enjoyed lots of pomegranates. It is such a delicious, nutritious and all the x-cious fruit. And many (especially Indians) know that the cover of pomegranate is great remedy for sore throat, cough, etc. But this year, we only saw pomegranate only once in stores, that too in the beginning of Feb. Though, this time of year pomegranates are available in stores in plenty. But this year, no sign of it for last 5-6 weeks.

So what changed in last one year. It is the great "POM" juice. For the ones who didn’t notice, last year a pomegranate juiced was launched with a brand name "POM", "The wonderful POM". “POM” advertisements are sticking in all trains, buses luring people with punch lines like “Cheat Death”, “Surprise your doctor”, “Power of anti-oxidants”, etc. "POM" has become such hype that every magazine termed it as the best thing to happen to juice because it has maximum anti-oxidants. Now, why not call pomegranate as the best fruit, why not eat the whole fruit? But gullible public believes what corporations tell.

Some common sense reasons to avoid juice and eat whole fruits.
1. Fruit is a complete package with fiber, carbs, protein, vitamins etc. given to you by Mother Nature who knows what is good for us than anybody else.
2. We might take in juice more then good for us. This might be harmful. Can you eat 8 oranges in one go? But I am sure you can drink 2-3 cups of orange juice.
3. Please read http://pediatrics.about.com/od/weeklyquestion/a/04_fruit_juice.htm and http://recipestoday.com/resources/articles/fruitjuice.htm : Even pediatricians recommend that too much juice reduces appetite in infants/toddlers because lot of juice has lot of calories.
4. Our body needs solid diet to sense that it is filling. Too many drinks with lots of calories cheat our body sensors and we don’t get a feeling of fullness. Hence we over-eat.

Well, we get all other types of juices, I am ok with them because we also get fruits for them. But with this “Wonderful POM”, pomegranate juice has swept away all pomegranate fruits from shops.

Well, I have saved come coverings of pomegranates for future use, very precious.