What's the deal with sweetening fruits?

[WillowTree]

I'm not necessarily referring to HCFS or artificial sweeteners (I use a limited amount of Splenda and Stevia myself in certain instances). I'm not interested in those campaigns personally. But just on a societal level, I'm just wondering why we in this Country find it necessary to add any kind of sweetener to fruits.

Why are almost all canned fruits packed in sugary syrups? Who decided that peaches and pears and pineapple aren't deliciously sweet all by themselves? True, if you shop in the right places and look carefully enough, you can find fruits canned in unsweetened juice, but there are far fewer varieties of those on the shelves, which must mean that there is less demand for juice-packed canned fruits and I just don't get it. I had to look in several stores before I finally found mandarin orange slices in unsweetened juice (thank you, DelMonte!).

I remember that when I was a kid, people would cut beautiful fresh peaches or berries and put them in a bowl AND SUGAR THEM.......before putting them on ice cream for dessert. What the heck??!!! Even my Mom, who always fed sensible, nutritious meals, would add some sugar to the gorgeous fresh strawberries we'd bring in from the garden.

Is it just a sugar addiction or do people not know that "in heavy syrup" or even "in light syrup" doesn't really mean that the fruit tastes better?

Just musing on a Sunday afternoon.