Hyperfixed Garbage Fruit [Or, The Fruit of Theseus]
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Sep 25, 2025 David Karp, a pomologist and fruit expert, dives into the curious case of the Red Delicious apple—a fruit everyone loves to hate. He shares its intriguing origins, revealing how clever marketing turned the once-delicious Hawkeye apple into a grocery store staple. Discover the shift in consumer preference that led to increasingly bland apples, and learn why hotels stock them more for decoration than consumption. Karp also discusses the economic fallout from the apple industry's overproduction, leaving listeners with a taste of both history and humor.
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Origin Story Of Red Delicious
- Jesse Hyatt discovered an unusual apple tree sprouting among his bellflowers and eventually named its fruit Hawkeye.
- Clarence Stark bought rights, renamed it Delicious, and turned it into a nationwide hit through nursery promotions.
Popularity Created Long-Term Supply
- The original Red Delicious was popular because it was tasty, productive, and adaptable to many growing regions.
- Massive early demand led farmers to plant huge acreage that persisted even after the variety's decline.
Red Looks Won Over Taste
- Consumer preference for the reddest fruit drove breeders and growers to select red sports over flavor.
- Selecting for appearance inadvertently eroded the flavor gene, producing less tasty successive generations.