North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

[Road's End Farm <organic87@frontiernet.net>]

On May 20, 2011, at 5:17 PM, Bob Hartman wrote:

> Sticking your nose on or near fruit doesn't sound good to me.  At  
> fruit
> shows some people want to pick up the fruit to smell it.  We have to  
> put out
> signs for people not to pick up the fruit because we are going to have
> people tasting the fruit and having someone's nose next to a fruit  
> is not
> appetizing.
>
> Bob

When I do this in groceries, I'm not sticking my nose on the fruit.  
And I'm not blowing on it, or exhaling towards it. I'm inhaling in its  
general vicinity. I suspect Ginda, who's the one who originally posted  
about choosing strawberries by scent, does the same thing.

If I could only smell it with my nose touching it, I wouldn't expect  
it to taste like much (for strawberries, or tomatoes, or other  
aromatic produce).

If there are samples actually out to taste, I don't need to smell it.  
But in any case, I never assume that fruit on the shelf in a grocery,  
or on a market stand, is untouched. Even if people only touched it  
with their hands, they may have touched their noses with their hands  
since they were last next to soap and water.

If I put out samples to taste, I wash them first.


-- Rivka; Finger Lakes NY, Zone 5 mostly
Fresh-market organic produce, small scale