Ever since the rescue from Egypt the Israelites have been living on manna and quail (see Exodus 16:1–36). Morning and evening, God provided for them in a miraculous way. But now that they have come into the land of promise, they will no longer be fed with bread falling from heaven. They can now eat the fruit of the land—from vineyards and olive trees that they have not planted.
The author of Joshua mentions three times the produce/fruit of the land in Joshua 5:11–12. He does so to emphasize that God’s promise is being fulfilled. God promised his people a land with food in abundance and now, for the first time in many years, they get a taste of it. There’s something different on the dinner plate.
11 And the day after the Passover, on that very day, they ate of the produce of the land, unleavened cakes and parched grain.