The Best Apple I Ever Ate

Dear readers,

The other week, I had the best apple of my life. Up until this point, the apple I ate at 13,000 ft on Mt. Beirdstadt was the best. Now, it falls to second.

It was a bright, cold Saturday afternoon. I careened through the January slush to my favorite farmer's market, the one at Clark Park. The farmer's were still there, stamping their feet and warming their hands . Kudos, farmers. (Some of you may be thinking, 'uh, stupid, farmers - that's why we invented "the store" and "the HVAC system".' I suppose one could debate about the validity of creature comforts for awhile.) Anyway, I knew I didn't have much cash so I skipped straight for the apple table. Picked out three 'York' apples - my favorite of the season- and put them on the scale to pay. Shoved my hand in my pocket for some dollar bills. Nope, not in that pocket. In my bag? Nope. Wait, I could've sworn I put that $7 in my pocket. I left my wallet at home. Ugh, what? No money, really?

I looked up at the Amish woman behind the scale to apologize and express my disappointment. In her genial Pennsylvania Dutch accent, she says, "oh, go on an take 'em anyway." My eyebrows shot up. I protested meekly. She insisted, "It's only three apples, anyway."

I thanked her energetically and hurried off with my treasures. Three free apples! Three free delicious organic local apples.

Now picture this scenario: You're in the checkout lane of Acme, SuperFresh, Kroger, Whole Foods... you're fumbling for your money. You look desperate. "Can I please just take these apples? I was really hoping to buy these apples today, but I forgot my money. Please." Now picture the look on the cashier's face.

These apples weren't good just because they were free. They were good because I figure that woman has something to do with the picking of the apples, and she has much more authority to decide if giving away some free apples is okay. Compare her to the cashier who just knows the prices of food.. the cashier who works for the supermarket because they need a job... the supermarket that employes many many people who know relatively nothing about what they are selling.. the supermarket that orders produce through a computer system... some corporate point person has a relationship with the farmer no doubt, but it's probably only on paper. The link between the cashier and the apple is about as long the railway between Pennsylvania and California. While both the Amish farmers and the Supermarkets need to make a profit to stay alive, at least the farmer sells with some credibility.

All this aside, it was a gentle reminder that paying for the real cost of food (paying more for local and organic things) has its perks. Like getting free apples on Saturday morning.