An investigation by the Sydney Morning Herald has determined that apples sold in Woolworths "The Fresh Food People" are up to a year old. . I just bought a bag of refrigerated Granny Smiths last week.
While I think that the technology is amazing, swirling the apples with ethylene to maintain a cool temperature, it rather puts me off apples. My brother works in the refrigeration field, where he designs food storage systems amongst other things. I must ask him about this.
This shatters my idea of the fresh apple. I think I will stick to stone fruit, which is in season at the moment in Australia. And how about some disclosure from the supermarkets on their storage policy.
Anyway, here is a great Apple poem to cheer you up as you head out to buy your apples.
The Apple and the Worm
I bit an apple
That had a worm.
I swallowed the apple,
I swallowed the worm.
I felt it squiggle,
I felt it squirm.
I felt it wiggle,
I felt it turn.
It felt so slippery,
Slimy, scummy,
I felt it land - PLOP -
In my tummy!
I guess that worm is there to stay
Unless . . .
I swallow a bird some day!
6 comments:
I feel the same way about apples right now. Last week I went to the Vic Markets in search of fruit, and a very honest stall-holder told me that all the apples had been in storage for "a significant period of time" except for the Royal Galas, which were straight off the tree.
They were the smallest apples I'd ever seen, but they do taste really good. I'm disappointed that market fruit isn't free from chemical preservation either.
Getting an apple with a worm in it is bad enough, it's biting into the apple and finding half a worm...........
Sadly, that short window of opportunity where there are fresh apples coming off the trees means for the rest of the year we eat cold storage. That 'preserving' spray-on wax coating unsettles me also. What's in that?
I'll never look a an apple the same way again! Hmph! Fresh Food People!
Anyway, I came over to tell you you won my Pay it Forward game! Paying it Forward - the Winners!
I´m looking forward to writing my post on your blog!
good thing, am eating orange right now, hehehe...
nice poem...
ey, am vegetarian so I won't encourage swallowing a bird... hehehhe
The apple story did not really surprise me all that much as our local greengrocer (who is not linked to any of the supermarket chains and who claims that he sells straight from the farm) had pointed out to me a while ago that most apples on sale are kind of ancient. He told me to look out for the stalks - if they are still green and supple, the apple is fresher. However, I suspect that this may still not be a totally reliable indicator.
Nevertheless, I am planning to plant loads of different apple trees this winter! The story about not being able to have apples all year round is nonsense, by the way - there are apple species for almost any time of the year apart from the middle of winter, it's just that supermarkets have reduced the number of apple varieties to just a few rather than the hundreds of varieties people used to grow.
If you have room in your new yard you might consider planting a mini orchard. Multi grafted dwarf trees of several varieties planted close enough together to shade each other when fully grown, yet far enough apart to be able to walk between and pick the freshest fruit you've ever eaten.
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