Introduction to Locally Available Apples

Left: Cameo Apple Right: Mutsu Apple


Apple Cider Donut

a.) What is this food?
These are two different kinds of apples. One is a Cameo, which is similar to a Fugi apple. It is red, yellow and green. It is a medium size and supposedly sweet. Like most apples, it is a round shape, but compared to some of the other apples it is not as perfectly round. When looking through the crates of Cameo apples they seem to be very asymmetrical. The other apple is called a Mutsu and is a crossbreed of a granny smith apple and a sweet delicious apple. The apples are a greenish yellow and orange color. The greener they are (the ones that look more like granny smiths) are sourer/tarter and the more orangey colored ones are sweeter and taste more like the golden delicious.

Whatever apples don't get sold at the farmer market are taken back to the farm and made into apple cider and apple cider donuts.

b.) Why is it good to eat apples?
Apples are good to eat because they are full of pectin, which is a soluble fiber that can reduce cholesterol and protect against environmental toxins. They are also a good source of vitamin C. The fiber in apples is also good for your digestive system and will help you poop. Apples are esthetically good because they are crunchy, sweet and fun to eat. And as most everyone knows from looking at the food pyramid that you are supposed 2-4 servings of fruits a day. Plus, an apple a day keeps the doctor away.

c.) Who sells it? Where?
These apples are grown by a farmer named Ken Migliorelli on the Migliorelli farm in Tivoli, NY. The Migliorelli farm is 550 acres and grows large quantities of apples, other fruits and vegetables. At the farmers Market at union square, in the middle of winter, the Migliorelli Farm stand sells apples, pears, apple cider donuts and apple cider. In the summer they sell other fruits like peaches and vegetables like lettuce, tomatoes and cucumbers. They also have another Migliorelli farm stand in Hudson valley, closer to the farm. The man who sold me the apples had been working for the Migliorelli farm for 13 years. That he woke up at 1 in the morning to go to the farm, get the apples and drive them to NYC 3 days a week.

Migliorelli Farm
46 Freeborn Lane
Tivoli, NY 12583
USA
tel: 845-757-3276 or 914-757-FARM

d.) How do they grow it?
When I asked the man at the farmers market how these apples are grown he said, “They plant the seed, water it and wait. Then it grows and there are flowers on the tree.” So I’m guessing there isn’t anything very special about how these apples are grown. I asked about pesticides and the man told me that Migliorelli Farm uses “very expensive pesticides that wash off by just rinsing the apple with water.” He also noted that he eats them without rinsing them and he’s “fine.”

e.) Links
General information about Apples
http://www.bestapples.com/healthy/index.html
http://www.vegparadise.com/highestperch39.html
http://health.learninginfo.org/apple.htm

Specific information about the Cameo Apple
http://www.cffresh.com/fresh/cameo_profile.html

Specific information about the Mutsu Apple
http://www.cffresh.com/fresh/mutsu_profile.html