Part of the reason there's a shortage is because the US was the main supplier. There was no market incentive for anyone to invest into helium extraction.

It'd be like if the US used it's strategic oil reserve to supply the US with oil at a low price at all times.

A strategic reserve isn't supposed to be used as a supply. The existence of a strategic reserve shouldn't have an effect on the supply of helium except in an emergency. The fact that selling the helium reserve could create a shortage should tell you that it wasn't being used as a reserve but as a supply.

The US was, essentially, artificial subsidizing the price of helium. What's happening now is that people are actually paying the real price of helium.

Tomatoes are, imo, the prime example and possibly the only one of popular produce, of bland produce in the US.

I think it's a combination of having them year-round (they are picked before they ripen for shipping) and the emphasis on color/look being very high. A good tomato tastes much better than most store bought to the point I didn't know I liked tomatoes until I had a garden grown one. Now I eat store bought as well but it's not the same.

I don't find most other fruits/veggies to suffer nearly as much from that though.