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Maybe I missed it in that massive article, but did they ever actually come to a conclusion why the apples taste worse today? Except maybe long term storage? It

Maybe I missed it in that massive article, but did they ever actually come to a conclusion why the apples taste worse today? Except maybe long term storage? It was a really long article about the history of the apple and difficult growing it, but I didn't see the title answered anywhere. It ended taking about surplus and storage requirements.

sigilis 2y ago
That was it, yes. Long term storage under refrigeration is harming the quality of the apples at market in the interest of making the apple available year round. The actionable information is in the beginning: honey crisp apples are not worth it anymore buy whatever instead. For me this keeps it from being insufferable. The stuff in the middle demonstrates what the conditions were like before it went mass market, which supports the conclusion that something changed and that it was likely related to the logistics of growing and distributing the apple. If you don't like reading these articles, you could try using an LLM to extract a summary before choosing to dive in. I'm sure there are browser extensions for that.
- rwiggins 2y ago
  Yeah, having the read the article, my conclusion was that you should avoid honeycrisps from like February through ~August. i.e. only buy them when they're vaguely in season, or not too long afterward. Anecdotally, I had some pretty delicious honeycrisps last night (in WA).
  - Spooky23 2y ago
    You also need to be aware of how the grocer stocks. As an example, during the peak of peach season in the region, a South Carolina Sam’s Club had pallets of California peaches!
s1artibartfast 2y ago
Storage is the answer they proposed. I didn't realize that apples could be stored for up to a year.
deleted 2y ago
[deleted]
vitehozonage 2y ago
Thanks for asking, i also read some of it and got frustrated by the article so came looking for the answer
mantas 2y ago
Because nowadays many fruits and veggies are bread for storability and transportability. Then sugariness. Taste is an afterthought. Let alone smell. I got a tiny lot and started growing some berries, fruits and veggies. There's a masive selection for pretty much any given species. Do you want eat-off-the-plant or make a jam? Do you prefer more or less sugary taste? How much are you willing to maintain and defend them? If you're looking for analysis paralysis, gardening is the way to go.
- malfist 2y ago
  Apples aren't like other fruit, they're essentially clones. If you breed an apple for something, your making a new apple
  - mantas 2y ago
    Yes. But the general tendency in Apple breeding is the same. Transportability and storability above all. With then getting more sugary, save granny smith. Personally I’m after historical apples. I’ve two local classics. One breed is from 19th century, the other is probably older, but I don’t buy claims it’s coming from medieval era. Taste is nice and they survive pretty well with very little upkeep with no modern chemistry. I also just planted few less-known modern colon style breeds. Fingers crossed few years later it will pay off.

sigilis 2y ago

That was it, yes. Long term storage under refrigeration is harming the quality of the apples at market in the interest of making the apple available year round. The actionable information is in the beginning: honey crisp apples are not worth it anymore buy whatever instead. For me this keeps it from being insufferable. The stuff in the middle demonstrates what the conditions were like before it went mass market, which supports the conclusion that something changed and that it was likely related to the logistics of growing and distributing the apple. If you don't like reading these articles, you could try using an LLM to extract a summary before choosing to dive in. I'm sure there are browser extensions for that.

rwiggins 2y ago
Yeah, having the read the article, my conclusion was that you should avoid honeycrisps from like February through ~August. i.e. only buy them when they're vaguely in season, or not too long afterward. Anecdotally, I had some pretty delicious honeycrisps last night (in WA).
- Spooky23 2y ago
  You also need to be aware of how the grocer stocks. As an example, during the peak of peach season in the region, a South Carolina Sam’s Club had pallets of California peaches!

s1artibartfast 2y ago

Storage is the answer they proposed. I didn't realize that apples could be stored for up to a year.

deleted 2y ago

[deleted]

vitehozonage 2y ago

Thanks for asking, i also read some of it and got frustrated by the article so came looking for the answer

mantas 2y ago

Because nowadays many fruits and veggies are bread for storability and transportability. Then sugariness. Taste is an afterthought. Let alone smell. I got a tiny lot and started growing some berries, fruits and veggies. There's a masive selection for pretty much any given species. Do you want eat-off-the-plant or make a jam? Do you prefer more or less sugary taste? How much are you willing to maintain and defend them? If you're looking for analysis paralysis, gardening is the way to go.

malfist 2y ago
Apples aren't like other fruit, they're essentially clones. If you breed an apple for something, your making a new apple
- mantas 2y ago
  Yes. But the general tendency in Apple breeding is the same. Transportability and storability above all. With then getting more sugary, save granny smith. Personally I’m after historical apples. I’ve two local classics. One breed is from 19th century, the other is probably older, but I don’t buy claims it’s coming from medieval era. Taste is nice and they survive pretty well with very little upkeep with no modern chemistry. I also just planted few less-known modern colon style breeds. Fingers crossed few years later it will pay off.