"Leila" > wrote in message
ups.com...
> Yer West Coast apple selection is just different from yer East Coast. I
> remember lovely apples in NY at the farmers' markets that I don't see
> here.

It's worse than you think, Leila. I live in Rochester NY. Friends in Long
Island, 6 hours away, can't get anything but Granny Smiths or Red Delicious
apples, at what are otherwise very good grocery stores. Meanwhile, we have
tons of locally grown ones, which, due to very careful storage tricks, are
quite good until March or April. Our largest supermarket (Wegman's) seems to
have an exclusive deal with a huge local grower who provides quite a few
varieties. I think this creates the illusion that there are enough to ship
all over the country, but it's obviously not the case. Driving through the
countryside, I see more dairy farms than orchards. Incidentally, supermarket
displays give very little space to Red Delicious. They simply don't matter,
except to florists making fruit baskets.