Seven foods the Experts won't eat.

[okiegirl1]

OK- contrarian to some extent.

I usually look at anything reporting handi-dandi factoids as usually incomplete and frequently wrong. So why the rush to believe all this with at least some citing of studies comfirming?

I have been around University people for decades and find that the level of poor judgement is as high there as anywhere else.

The guy citing the apple problems - he said that apples need a lot more spraying than other kinds of fruits because weaker varieties are grafted and have little disease resistance.
Well- I hate to burst his bubble but virtually all commercially grown fruit from apple, pears, etc to nuts are grown on grafted stock. I grow on grafted stock as almost everyone who grow home grown fruit trees purchased from a nursery or store does.
Grafting allows uniform convenient height, early fruit production and uniformity of variety. They are not inherently weaker than any other fruit variety, although some, mostly home offerings, are. If you want disease resistance- you can buy that sweet cardboard masquerading as an apple known as Red Delicious.
Actually I would suspect that most commercially grown apple varieties have disease resistance as part of their attractiveness to growers- chemicals are expensive.

The reason for all the spraying is that people demand fruit that looks perfect- no scab, insect, etc damage. They want ridiculously large, symetrical fruit. All not possible to produce in mass inexpensively without chemicals of some kind.

I do not spray my apples and try to pick disease resistant varieties for my area but I also will eat ones with scab or rust damage- some lopsided and small. If people will go with that, they too can have chemical free fruit.

About the other items, I have no direct know so can't say. But since they sited one less-than-sensible source, it makes me wonder about the others. Some reporter without understanding is not a person to accept as gospel. Especially as the ones used as experts are from organizations promoting organica products.

(If I could use emoticons at the moment, I"d be using the one hiding under a chair.) I like to grow without chemicals- I just don'ty trust these kinds of articles for real information.

ok, PLEASE don't take this as ..... well.... as some people tend to take stuff.....

but it's comments like this that make it so hard for those of us trying to hard to eat better. I am just learning that the food pryamid isn't the end all be all in food. So, ok, I'll eat more veggies. Nope that's not good enough because they have chemicals on them. ok, I get it, I'll try to get my frutis and veggies from the farmers market, nope that's not good enough either. just 'cause it says organic, doesn't mean it's REALLY organic.... ok..... sigh..... I'll get my organic fruits and veggies from the health food store.... nope, it's wasn't blessed by tibetan monks.
some of us are really thinking we're doing good with the sweet cardboard....

 

[enjoy the ride]

Don't worry- It was just a remark about the wonderful apples that are out there- Red Delicious was at one time a pretty good apple but was "refined" buy commercial breeders to be really red, have a pleasing shape and ship well so as to look good at the grocers. They seemed to have forgot the flavor.
When I discovered the wonderful wide world of apples- hundreds of different ones- that are available to the home grower, I just could no longer look a Red Delicious in the eye.

It certainly was not meant to imply any criticism of people who like them- well- maybe a bit- I can't help it- I'm an apple snob.

 

[me&thegals]

enjoy the ride--Very true. We should never swallow whole (sorry about the pun) information fed to us. A healthy dose of skepticism keeps us on our toes!

I am an organic grower. But, I have to tell you while I will never, ever use chemicals, I would much rather see other folks using IPM (Integrated Pest Management) than the current practice. My understanding is that this is a careful, observant, judicious use of chemicals or medication rather than a wholesale, dump it on everywhere, feed it to every animal, approach.

Better is better than worse.

As for red delicious, in case anyone wanted my opinion, they are..... not. Delicious, that is. I try not to judge my son too harshly for choosing them as his favorite variety.

 

[okiegirl1]

I guess I'm the odd-ball. no shocker there.

I really do like red's. I like granny smith when I want a sour make funny faces apple.

I've bought Jonathan's and Pink Ladies before, but ... ugh... wasn't too jazzed about either. I guess I'm not an apple snob. Funny, I've always said I was a water snob tho'!

 

[me&thegals]

I guess I'm the odd-ball. no shocker there.

I really do like red's. I like granny smith when I want a sour make funny faces apple.

I've bought Jonathan's and Pink Ladies before, but ... ugh... wasn't too jazzed about either. I guess I'm not an apple snob. Funny, I've always said I was a water snob tho'!

Hey okie--I read on realage.com that the Red Delicious are the absolutely highest in some essential nutrient. I can't remember which, but it was good

 

[meriruka]

I would recommend trying Gala apples & Fuji apples.
Much crisper & juicier than Red Delicious.

Gurney's sells fruit trees called "Little Bigs" which is a dwarf tree that
only grows to about 7-8 ft but has full size fruit. The tree is short enough that I can just pick off the caterpillars by hand.

 

[hikerchick]

Macouns are the best apples I have ever had but you can only get them for a short time and as far as I know, only in the northeast. I lived in PA for 5 years before I started seeing them here. I used to wait for the signs to be out "Macouns are in!!" when I lived in CT and NJ.

 

[enjoy the ride]

One of my favorites is my 4ft really dwarfed apple known as Alaska- I've grown some root stook this year to graft for a semi-dwarf. Since I haven't been able to locate Alaska on any list, I'm afraid that my elderly little tree will die and leave me with no apples of that variety.
I have a couple of Cox varieties too which I like.
I would recommend Fuji to any looking for store bought apples too.

I can believe that Red Delicious is higher in some nutirents- that thick, deep red skin would account for that.