BAD APPLES

      Looks can be deceptive.  Those delicious looking apples in the produce section were probably picked eight months ago.  Sometimes they're okay but other times you want your money back.
Wanting to know why old fruit is put on the market, I began my search for Apple Truth.

 

      There was a time when you could only buy apples seasonally, when they're harvested in the fall.  When they became available throughout the year I figured they were being imported from  places like Argentina.  

      They're not.  All of the apples I've seen in local stores are grown in the United States.  I went online to see what is being done to preserve them and learned they are put in cold storage.  Although the nutrients in apples -like any fruits or vegetables-  begin to degrade when they're picked,  cool temperatures keep them pretty... sometimes mushy or tasteless, but pretty.  Wax is added to make them shine.

     I met an apple farmer in Washington, D.C. last month.  He admitted selling old apples but added, "the cooler can make them sweeter".  The one he sold me (above) was pretty good.

He said that they can grow and sell more by making them available year-round.  "We put them in 33 degree rooms then suck out the oxygen", He explained.

      I asked him, that being said, why so many old apples are only enjoyed by fruit-eating dogs (we have such a dog).    He shrugged, smiled, and said with apple in hand, "Well, I like mine".