Slow Food USA

The apple is the epitome of an American fruit. Its initial use was as a means of expansion into the new frontier at the hand of Johnny Appleseed, and it is also the basis of many quintessential American baked goods such as apple butter, apple pie and apple cider doughnuts. Though the apple is prevalent in American food traditions, it is not native to North America—it was brought to the US by English and Western European settlers. During its time on North American soil, the cultivated apple morphed into a new type of fruit with the propagation of seedlings that were genetically unlike the apple parent trees; new types of American apples quickly emerged, many of them unnamed varieties that were unique to a particular village, farm or estate. In the early 1800s, American nurseries were already offering 100 named varieties of apples for sale; by 1850, more than 500 widely recognized varieties were being cultivated and in 1872, Charles Downing documented close to 1,100 different kinds of apples with their origins in America.

As with many other fruit varieties, the emphasis of apple production has shifted toward apples that can grow in large-scale orchards, and are easily packed and shipped to distant markets. This market importance has lead to the decline of the incredibly rich and diverse American apple culture. In the past decade glossy and tasteless apples have dominated the produce aisles of supermarkets (i.e. the beautiful but mealy Red Delicious). Gala, Braeburn, Granny Smith, and other apples imported from Washington State—or during the off-season from Chile and New Zealand—have little of the unique flavor or complexity of locally grown apples.

Hawkeye, photo by Kurt Michael Friese

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Arkansas Black, photo by Ben Watson	Baldwin, photo by Tami Lax	Baldwin, photo by Ben Watson
Ben Davis, photo by Ben Watson	Bethel, photo by Ben Watson	Black Twig, photo by Ben Watson
Blue Pearmain, photo by Ben Watson	Chenango Strawberry, photo by Tami Lax	Davey, photo by Ben Watson
Esopus Spitzenburg, photo by Ben Watson	Esopus Spitzenburg, photo by Ben Watson	Esopus Spitzenburg, photo by Ben Watson
Fall Pippin, photo by Ben Watson	Gloria Mundi, photo by Ben Watson	Gloria Mundi, photo by Ben Watson
Golden Russet, photo by Ben Watson	Granite Beauty, photo by Ben Watson	Grimes Golden, photo by Ben Watson
Harrison, photo by Ben Watson	Harrison, photo by Ben Watson	Hubbardston Nonesuch, photo by Ben Watson
Hudson's Golden Gem, photo by Ben Watson	Jefferis, photo by Tami Lax	Jonathan, photo by Ben Watson
King David, photo by Ben Watson	Melon, photo by Ben Watson	Mother, photo by Tami Lax
Newtown (Albemarle) Pippin, photo by Ben Watson	Newtown (Albemarle) Pippin, photo by Ben Watson	Nickajack, photo by Ben Watson
Northern Spy, photo by Ben Watson	Northwestern Greening, photo by Ben Watson	Ralls (Ralls Janet), photo by Ben Watson
Rhode Island Greening, photo by Ben Watson	Roxbury Russet, photo by Ben Watson	Red Winter Pearmain, photo by Ben Watson
Yellow Bellflower (Sheepnose), photo by Ben Watson	Smokehouse, photo by Ben Watson	Stark, photo by Ben Watson
Stayman, photo by Ben Watson	Stayman, photo by Ben Watson	Sutton Beauty, photo by Ben Watson
Tolman Sweet, photo by Ben Watson	Tompkins County King, photo by Ben Watson	Twenty Ounce, photo by Ben Watson
Virginia Beauty, photo by Ben Watson	Wagener, photo by Ben Watson	Wealthy, photo by Tami Lax
Westfield Seek-No-Further, photo by Ben Watson	Winesap, photo by Ben Watson	Winter Banana, photo by Ben Watson
Wolf River, photo by Ben Watson	Yates, photo by Ben Watson