Former FBI 'Apple Detective' Succeeds in Rediscovering Seven Apples That Should Be Lost
It was reported on June 1, 2021 that a person who had been conducting criminal investigations at the FBI and the Internal Revenue Service for 24 years was active as an 'apple detective' and rediscovered seven varieties of apples that should have been extinct. ..
7 apple varieties previously thought lost have been located | The Seattle Times
An Apple Detective Rediscovered 7 Kinds Of Apples Thought To Be Extinct: NPR
https://www.npr.org/2021/06/11/1005418986/several-types-of-apples-thought-to-be-extinct-have-been-rediscovered
Lost Apple Project | wchs
https://www.whitmancountyhistoricalsociety.org/lostapple
There used to be 17,000 kinds of apples in North America, but by 2021, the number has decreased to about 4,500 kinds. This is because farmers stopped growing many apples due to declining demand until the 20th century. The Lost Apple Project is a non-profit organization that aims to revive such lost apples and their taste in history.
The Lost Apple Project was founded in 2016 by David Benscoter, a 24-year criminal investigation at the FBI and the Internal Revenue Service of the United States. Benscoter has discovered 29 apple species since 2014, mainly across abandoned farms and orchards located in the northwestern Pacific coast, but is new to the old orchards of Washington, Oregon and Idaho. He discovered seven species of apples that were thought to be extinct more than a century ago.
Benscoter was originally interested in apples when his disabled neighbor asked Benscoter to take care of them. After years of criminal investigations, Benscoter began investigating the origins of natural and native crops , and in the process partnered with the Whitman County Historical Society to 'identify and preserve traditional apple trees.' It led to the project.
Benscoter's research begins by looking at seed catalogs, county official records, newspaper clippings, and seedling ledger. Occasionally, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) will learn about the existence of new seeds from the watercolor paintings of the contract signed in the 1880s.
This is the watercolor painting that was actually drawn on the USDA contract. An apple called 'Iowa Flat'.
The apple, which was rediscovered after 100 years, 'has a unique flavor that is different from existing apples, but it's a taste worth waiting for 100 years,' Benscoter said. The Whitman County Historical Society explained that the rediscovered apples will soon be open to the public.
'I'm very excited about this discovery, and this is a step towards increasing the genetic diversity of apples,' said Ben Gutierrez, a curator specializing in apples at USDA. Rediscovering older varieties will allow farmers and consumers to see what they want, develop varieties that grow without pesticides, and develop more nutritious varieties, Gutierrez said.
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