Unlike apples, for which there are Granny Smiths, Red Delicious, Fuji, among others, and oranges, which are members of the citrus family, there is only one banana variation readily found in American markets: the Cavendish.

When you buy strawberries at the grocery store, do you think about the last person who touched them? As a food safety expert, Prof. Robert Gravani, food science, does.

It may be March, but as far as Ithaca is concerned, we still have another month and a half of winter in front of us — I’m going crazy. After all, there really isn’t any in-season fruit. Sure, Wegmans may try to convince us with price breaks that navel oranges from the sunnier parts of the country are rolling to idling 18 wheelers in what could only be described as a bumper crop.

March is the time of year for crates of clementines that disappear quickly at first, but soon reach a stable, albeit slightly moldy, equilibrium of a few less-choice samples. A glance into the average refrigerator today turns up some limp carrots and celery stalks and perhaps a sad-looking head of iceberg lettuce.