Saturday, October 6, 2007

Wisconsin Apple Season?

Went to the grocery store last night for the weekly shopping trip with fruit on the list. Coming off of the Eat Local Challenge, I checked the apple labels carefully to make sure I got some that were local. After all, apples are right in season now in both Wisconsin and Michigan.

I was dismayed that the best looking apples (Braeburn) were from New Zealand. There were several apple varieties from Michigan, but they frankly looked like they were last year's harvest. Several were bruised and some were even visibly rotting. Had they been on sale to move them quickly to make room for the current harvest it would have been understandable, but prices were just as usual: expensive ($1.20-$1.75/lb).

I just couldn't bring myself to pay that much for bad apples, so I ended up buying just a few bananas from Nicaragua for 45 cents per pound. At least they looked good, and had traveled less distance than the New Zealand apples - and I saved quite a bit.

3 comments:

Anne-Cecile said...

hi there,
I like your blog. it's great. i have a green blog too. you should check it out :) http://eco-stride.blogspot.com/

Matt said...

Hey man, check out Local Harvest.com for some farms in your area that might sell apples. Or look in the classifieds for people with listings of apples. I find things that way when I want a specific local item.

Matt from Groovy Green

Jakob said...

Matt, thank you for the suggestion. I know there are local apple orchards in the area - haven't had time this year to go tone, though. My comment was mostly that the grocery stores should sell the locally grown apples that are here.