Eve to Adam, "That'll be 4 Bucks"

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I asked the woman ringing up my groceries, “How can that be?”

Normally I pay no attention to the check stand that displays what you owe for the items as they cross the scanner.  However this morning I did catch out of the corner of one eye the figure $15.37.  This seemed odd because I was certain I hadn’t picked out anything that would cost that much.  I looked down to see the woman lowering into a bag the six apples I had picked out.

She said, “What?”

I said, “Those are apples not tri-tip.”

She said, “Yes dear, but those are Honeycrisp apples, $3.96 a pound.”

I said, “Do they come with a prize inside?”

When I had left the house to go to the market I had been instructed on my way out the door to:  “get some fruit.  Remember, I like those Honeycrisp apples.”

After I paid for my groceries I walked back to the produce section and discovered that the Honeycrisp apples not only cost more that the tri-tip (on special that day) but run anywhere from two to three times more than all the other apples.  A Honeycrisp apple averages 10 ounces in weight.  Unless you eat the core there's really only 7 ounces.  If you peel it you'll have even less.  Those edible 7 ounces come to $5.60 a pound.  As I said, "How can that be?"

As far as I have been able to determine the stores get the apples from growers who employ people to pick the apples from the trees that the growers purchase from tree farms.  The grower has to pay a $1 royalty for each tree to the University of Minnesota who developed the fruit and still holds the patent.  

The University of Minnesota has developed an apple that appeals to the consumer but has proved to be a pain in the ass to produce.  The trees that produce Honeycrisp have limbs that can not handle the weight of the fruit and require a trellis for support.  The fruit needs more calcium spraying than others to combat a condition referred to as "bitter pit." In addition, the Honeycrisp is more susceptible to bruising than other types and calls for far more labor-intensive methods for picking and handling.  A crop of Honeycrisp ripens at various times and must be picked three times in a season rather than just once as with other apples.  

I would like to know if the University of Minnesota considers the development of this product a success.  Wouldn't you think somebody at the school might have questioned whether their work was truly finished?  Sure it tastes great but what about all the product flaws and shortcomings that the growers have to deal with and that drive up the cost?  On top of everything they have the balls to charge a royalty for trees with limbs that fall off?  What's that you say?  Not your problem?  

Did no one at the university ever consider going back to the drawing board?  The University of Minnesota website states that its alumni, faculty and students are continuing the school’s “legacy of fighting world hunger.”  Let me go out on a limb here and suggest that there might not be much of a market for Honeycrisps in Sudan or Bangladesh.

It pains me to say that I didn’t tell the woman at the check stand to take them back.  There is at least some consolation in knowing I’ll never buy them again.