Apple Season- Too Much or Not Enough
Posted by Veronica
Friday October 5, 2012As a girl growing up in Michigan, apples were a fall staple. Every year, it wasn’t truly autumn until my friends or family and I headed out to a cider mill to pick pumpkins, drink apple cider, and eat spiced donuts. Candied apples and caramel apples showed up regularly at festivals and family gatherings, and Cider was kept in fridges by the gallon.
So it goes without saying that Michigan’s apple shortage this year will be upsetting not only for business, but for locals. Due to the unseasonably warm winter, farmers lost approximately 90% of their apple crops. As a result the prices of local apple products have increased, at times they’ve even doubled. In an effort to keep their seasonal business, farmers who provided a “pick your own apples” attraction have introduced other options, like hay rides and various children’s events.
On the other side of the country in Washington state, apple farms have the exact opposite issue. Farmers have more apples than their employees can pick. While Washington workers race the clock trying to reach all of the fruit, there is extra incentive to get as much of the tasty fall treat as possible. Michigan, New York, and other countries that suffer from an apple shortage will need to supplement their supply, and retailers that normally purchased from the Midwest and East Coast will need to look elsewhere, making Washington’s apples a prime candidate. Who say’s money doesn’t grow on trees?
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[...] And apple pick I did– this past weekend, in fact, at Tougas Farm in Northboro, Massachusetts. Though the high temperature of 76 degrees on Saturday may have not felt very much like fall, the beautiful New England foliage, huge patch of pumpkins, and endless rows of countless varieties of apples sure proved that sure ’twas the season (and reminded me how grateful I am to no longer be living in Michigan, where they are experiencing quite the apple shortage!). [...]