So cute you almost can't eat it

One of my (many) little things with food is that I am devoted to organics and frequently make my way pilgrim-like to the Seven Fields organic shop. I'm a regular. The staff know that I always go for the optional biodegradable rice bags and always try to gently intercept me on the way to the chocolate shelf if they should be out of Dagoba Xocolatl bars.

Lately the fruit shelf is overrun with supercute and insanely flavourful little mini-apples. The big apple on the right is the same type of apple, only the bloated and less tasty version.

The tastiness of the cute apple made me recall a conversation I had with a Sicilian agriculturist. 65% of the fruit in Italy is grown in Sicily and, according to my Sicilian agriculturist friend, the reason has something to do with the fact that everything Sicilian is superior, even the fruit. It got a little bit vague because she was getting excited and speaking fast in Italian BUT I think the idea is that because Sicily is very dry and the soil is rich, the flavours in the fruit become more concentrated. Also, the fruit is often small.

Naturally, this led me to the supermarket for some size comparisons. What is up with food these days? I'm surprised that the fruitbesity epidemic has not worried the government yet and don't even get me started on the universal problem of portion creep. Is it a symptom of our 'faster, bigger, more, now' society that our food has developed gigantism? I wonder what sort of void we might be trying to fill with this constant push toward more but with little regard for the actual taste experience and real nutritional quality?

You see what a few small apples can do to me? I think I need to go lie down in a quiet room... ;)