What the Next Generation Won't Know: Watermelons Have Seeds

Add this to the long list of things the next generation won't know: watermelon has seeds.

Jane Black of The Washington Post writes how seedless watermelon is replacing old-school ones in the grocery stores:

According to the National Watermelon Promotion Board, only 16 percent of watermelons sold in grocery stores have seeds, down from 42 percent in 2003. In California and the mid-South, home to the country's biggest watermelon farms, the latest figures are 8 and 13 percent, respectively. The numbers seem destined to tumble. Recently developed hybrids do not need seeded melons for pollination - more on that later - which liberates farmers from growing melons with spit-worthy seeds.

The iconic, black-studded watermelon wedge appears destined to become a slice of vanished Americana. If that sounds alarmist, try to remember the last time you had to spit out a grape seed.

Link - via Holy Kaw


Tomatoes, apples, watermelon, green peppers, head lettuce. All of them have lost their taste since I was a boy. I used to like vegetables and fruit. Thank God no one has destroyed onions, celery and broccoli.
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The problem with fruits and vegetables is that they a growing them too fast so they loose all of their flavor. As for seedless watermelons I have had them and they are horrible compared to the seeded ones.
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Over-hybridized food has lost its flavor, yep. And part of the fun of eating watermelon is spitting the seeds for distance. I'd hate for tomorrow's kids to miss out on that uncouth fun.
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The only solution is to stop buying this crap from grocery stores and get it in season at the farmer's market, or better yet, grow it yourself. For our grandparents, eating watermelon in June was unheard of. Now, we can eat it in January if we want, but it tastes like crunchy water. Is that progress?
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