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[Sep. 2nd, 2008|10:12 am] |
I love apples. Seriously. I grew up eating my own bodyweight in Golden Delicious every week, then Granny Smiths, and I try every variety I can find in the shops.
But the selection in big stores is... well, I'll not swear and just say it’s a bit limited. Tesco doesn't stock more than 3 or 4 varieties, ever. Granny Smith, Golden Delicious, Braeburn, Gala. That's not the big problem, however.
The apples in UK supermarkets today are absolutely shocking. They're big, unblemished and look perfect, and are almost entirely tasteless. An apple is nearly always over a year old by the time it hits the shelves – covered in sprays, picked far too early and then frozen for months. Every single one has the telltale white freeze spots on it that give away the fact it’s going to be dried, tart and tasteless. They’re hard because they weren’t anywhere near ripe when they stopped growing. The fruit travels around most of the world before it gets here, but travels well – that’s the only criteria the shops have for them. They’ve gotta survive long-term, and not bruise in packing.
I can hardly buy apples from supermarkets now. There’s no point. They taste terrible. Even the organic ones have been frozen for months, and come out as lifeless, bland replicas of each other.
George Monbiot has written a piece on this and (unlike quite a few of his columns) I couldn't agree more with him. England makes apples – it’s one of the few things we always did well, and we have hundreds of varieties. (We also do pig farming better than most, but import most of our bacon from Denmark. That’s another post). It’s almost impossible to find supermarket apples grown in the UK, even in season. They’re from New Zealand, or the USA, or South Africa. A year ago.
Here’s some UK apple varieties that one google search turned up:
“Adam's Pearmain, Akane, Allen's Everlasting, Allington Pippin, Annie Elizabeth, Bramley, Brown's, Christmas Pearmain, Cox, Crawley Beauty, D'Arcy Spice, Dr Kidd's Orange Red, Dumelow's Seedling, Ecklinville Seedling, Elstar Gloster 69, Hambledon Deux Ans, Hoary Morning, Howgate Wonder, Isle of Wight Pippin, James Grieve, Kent, Lane's Prince Albert, Laxton's Fortune, Lord Lambourne, Margil, May Queen, Monarch, Newton Wonder, Old Pearmain, Pixie, Polly Whitehair, Red Devil, Ribston's Pippin, Sir John Thorneycroft, Sunset Winston, Winter Banana, Wisley Crab, Wyken Pippin.”
Heard the one about how we might not have any yellow bananas left? Bananas come in lots of colours, but for convenience in packing the industry decided to concentrate on just one variety – the Cavendish banana. Now a fungal disease is working on wiping it out globally, and because there’s no diversity of varieties, there’s no other type left to replace it. We could be eating bananas which aren’t yellow soon, because we concentrated on mass-supplying just one type.
Apples are the same way. It may not be a disease that threatens them, but picking just three or four varieties of anything is never a good idea, and especially when we’ve got such a rich history of fantastic diversity in the UK.
Read the Monbiot piece and see what you think. It makes me want to look up a farmer’s market just to try some rarer apples. And maybe some cider. Ahem. |
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