Apples

Americans have always been proprietary about apples. More than any other fruit, they serve as an icon of many of the characteristics we hold most dear: hardiness, pioneering spirit and just plain goodness. But sometimes when you identify with a thing too much, you take it for granted. And that’s just what happened with apples.

For most of the twentieth century, the United States dominated the world’s apple trade. We shipped apples around the globe, making Red and Golden Delicious household names from Argentina to Italy to Taiwan. Today the United States has lost that lead, and by an overwhelming margin. China, a country that barely grew any apples to speak of thirty years ago, now grows one third of all the apples in the world—more than five times as many apples are harvested in China every year as in the United States. American apple exports fell by a third between 1994 and 2004, dropping the United States into third place behind China and Chile.

And those juggernaut American apple varieties Red and Golden Delicious? They’re fading, too. Granted, they are still the most common apples in the United States, but they no longer tower over all the others as they once did. Instead, they are being shoved aside by new, often imported varieties. Red Delicious, which once made up almost half of the national harvest, now accounts for only a little more than a quarter. Instead, the market is crowded with new and perhaps unfamiliar types such as Gala, Fuji, Honeycrisp and Pink Lady.

How did all this come about? Like anything involving world trade and agriculture, the answers are many and complicated. But if you need a one-word summary, “complacency” would be a good place to start. The recent history of the American apple industry is a good example of what can happen when you think you have the world on a string.

At one time hundreds of apple varieties were grown in the United States. Each region had its own stable from which to choose. But the modern American apple industry, which has been dominated by Washington State farmers since the 1920s, was built on two varieties: Golden Delicious and Red Delicious. The former is a very good apple—when it is allowed to mature to the point that it is truly golden and not green. Unfortunately, it usually isn’t.

The same cannot be said for the latter, which is about as close to a perfect example of the ruination of industrial agriculture as you will ever find. Originally, the Red Delicious was a pretty good apple. But it was not very red—more golden with red stripes. As is so often repeated in the fruit industry, red sells, so farmers began pushing for Red Delicious varieties with deeper and deeper color—to the point that many of the strains that are grown today are nearly black. What the farmers failed to notice is that as the skin of an apple darkens, it also develops a more bitter taste. Furthermore, when you begin selecting fruit strictly on the basis of color, other attributes fall quickly by the wayside. As a result, the modern Red Delicious is frequently mealy and insipid, with a bitter finish.

Still, it sold and sold. And farmers planted more and more. And apple lovers bemoaned the sorry state of the Red Delicious and the lack of all of those beloved antique varieties they had so adored. But their complaints fell on deaf ears. Growers were selling about as many apples as they could grow—and for pretty good prices—and they weren’t about to do anything that might upset the cart. In fact, the commercial quality standards on which wholesale apple prices are based became heavily skewed toward the Red Delicious, rewarding the fruit that was the biggest and reddest with the highest prices.

A closer reading of the situation would have revealed some troubling trends. For instance, apples were not attracting new customers at home: America’s per capita apple consumption remained almost flat for the second half of the twentieth century. As a result, more and more fruit had to be sold overseas, in Canada, Mexico and Taiwan. In the 1970s America exported about 6 percent of its apple crop. In the 1980s that increased to 12 percent, and by the turn of the new century exports had increased to 20 percent. In an effort to appeal to overseas buyers, particularly the Taiwanese, American farmers started planting some new varieties that had been developed in the Pacific: Gala (from New Zealand) and Fuji (from Japan).

And then the apple world’s sleeping giant woke up. In the early 1980s the Chinese government decided to begin allowing trade with the outside world. Perhaps due in part to the success of Americans selling in Taiwan, apples, which to that point had been a fairly minor crop in China, became a focal point. Apple production in China increased by more than 750 percent from 1980 to 2000. Apples—primarily Fuji, Jonagold, Golden Delicious and Gala—are now the most widely planted tree fruit in China.

As these low-priced Chinese apples started hitting what had traditionally been American export markets, the effect on U.S. farmers was disastrous. By some estimates, as many as half of the apple growers in the United States went out of business in the last twenty years of the twentieth century. In just the five-year span from 1997 to 2002, well after the worst of the crash, the number of farms growing apples declined by 20 percent, and more than 40,000 acres of orchards were pulled up.

By one agricultural economist’s calculations, Red Delicious growers lost money on every case of apples sold throughout the 1990s. Another figured that fewer than 15 percent of Washington State apple farmers were earning enough from their harvests to support their families without outside income.

Having weathered the worst of this, American apple farmers are now cautiously optimistic. Because of low quality, poor handling and lack of storage facilities, the Chinese have not been as successful at exporting as it was feared they would be. More important, at least for apple eaters, when those new Pacific varieties of apples could no longer be sold as profitably overseas, they started turning up on domestic shelves. And guess what? It turned out they had pretty good flavor. From being almost unknown twenty years ago, Gala and Fuji are now the third and fourth most widely grown apples in the United States. The Gala harvest has increased by almost 500 percent since the 1990s, and the Fuji harvest has tripled. And that turned out to be just the beginning. Hard on their heels came Jonagold and Braeburn, then Honeycrisp, Empire and Pink Lady (also called Cripps Pink).

Since apples are one of the few fruits that are still sold labeled by variety, American shoppers are having to learn a whole new set of names, including those for old varieties that haven’t been heard of in decades. Now it’s a rare market in any area cold enough to grow apples that doesn’t have at least one farmer selling heirlooms such as Arkansas Black and Cox’s Orange Pippin out of a bushel in the back of his truck. But the odds are that the same guy will have boxes full of Fujis and Galas, too. Here’s a quick rundown of some of these apple varieties.

WHERE THEY’RE GROWN: Apples are widely grown, but more than half of the total national harvest and between 60 and 75 percent of the fresh harvest comes from Washington State. New York, Michigan, California and Pennsylvania are also important producers. In Washington, apples are grown in the eastern foothills of the Cascade Range, an apple-producing area since the early 1800s.

HOW TO CHOOSE: All apples should be smooth-skinned and deeply colored. Yellow apples should be golden, and striped apples should have a background color that is nearly golden. Apples should be heavy for their size and firm to the touch.

HOW TO STORE: Apples should be kept as close to 32 degrees and with as much humidity as possible. Store them in an open or perforated plastic bag to retain moisture without collecting water. Put the bag in the crisper drawer of the refrigerator.

HOW TO PREPARE: Apples are often waxed to slow moisture loss and extend their shelf life. This wax is not petroleum based and is harmless, but if you want to remove it, rinse the apple in warm water. Apples can be peeled or not, depending on the dish. Leaving the peel on adds color but can result in stray bits of tough skin in the dish. Core apples before cooking to remove the woody center and hard little seeds; an inexpensive apple corer is the easiest way to do this. Once their flesh has been exposed to air by peeling or slicing, most apples will begin to turn brown. This is harmless in the short run, but it can affect flavor over time. To avoid discoloration, place the sliced fruit in water mixed with a squirt of lemon juice. Red Delicious apples are particularly susceptible to browning.

ONE SIMPLE DISH: Baked apples are one of the homiest desserts. Core the apples, but leave them unpeeled. Stuff the center with a little brown sugar and a knob of butter. Arrange the apples in a buttered baking dish with a bit more butter scattered over the top and pour in a hit of bourbon. Cover with aluminum foil and bake at 350 degrees for about 45 minutes. Remove the foil and increase the heat to 450 degrees. Continue baking until the apples can be pierced easily with a knife, about 15 minutes. If you like, scatter some pecans in the pan during the second part of the baking.