It has been suggested that I love apples. Well, duh. Who doesn’t? There’s just something about the apple’s crispy, juicy sweetness that strikes a chord in the human brain that Jelly Belly will ever be able to mimic.

Apples are, for many, the taste of autumn and of childhood: From a steaming mug of mulled cider or a bright Yellow Delicious tucked lovingly into a lunchbox, apples have wormed their way into our social consciousness and our cultural identity in the form of folk tales about Johnny Appleseed’s random propagation or Isaac Newton’s painful inspiration. And what, aside from obesity, representative democracy and Tila Tequila, could be more American than apple pie?

From a nutritional perspective, apples are kind of the Chevy Cavalier of the fruit world. They’re pretty good for you, with a modest amount of fiber, some vitamins and minerals and about 60 calories for a medium-sized apple. Overall, not anything rave-worthy, though eating a lot of peels (that’s where most of the nutrients are) may do some good.

Mostly, apples are remarkable because of their familiar warm-and-fuzzy friendliness to people all over the world. According to the Food and Agricultural Organization, American farmers harvested 4.7 million tons of apples in 2007 and another 200,000 tons of imported apples means that Americans average about 25 pounds of apples or apple products every year. Even though that won’t go a long way in keeping the doctor away, it certainly helps out the New York farmers who produce about 10 percent of the country’s apples every year.

The many varieties of apples that exist around the world are of the same species and are what horticulturists call cultivars. Since humans have been working on improving the apple harvest for hundreds of years, it should come as no surprise that many old varieties, while interesting and likely good for certain applications, have disappeared or gone missing under the fanfare of today’s shinier, more symmetrical and generally tastier fruits. Still, horticulturists and plant scientists occasionally resurrect some of the older varieties to breed traits like disease resistance into some of the newer fruits.

Occasion­ally, random mutation or unexpected crosses take place, and these give some of the most interesting apples. One example is the tasty and increasingly popular Cameo, which never met its parents but is suspected to be the love child of Red Delicious and Golden Delicious. Many apple cultivars have been bred and developed in upstate New York, from the tasty Jonagold to the Cornell-developed Empire.

Agricultural scientists here have also developed a new technique for cold-storing apples, which is the traditional way of making sure that the durable fruit makes it through the winter.

Usually, this was accomplished in a cellar, but the controlled atmosphere method involves taking oxygen levels in a high-tech sealed room down to about one tenth of what we breathe. This prevents the fruit from losing its flavor and becoming grainy and explains why you are able to buy Cornell apples all the way through the winter, either from the Orchards Store or in a vending machine near you.

September is prime season for getting a hold of a huge variety of apples, and since we are in New York, the city of Ithaca has seen fit to provide an excellent way to celebrate the fruit in all its glory by hosting its annual Apple Harvest Festival. Here, local farmers and cooks convene with foodies from miles around in a sweet party on the Commons. And guess what? It’s this weekend. Consider it your opportunity to take full advantage of the region, expand your knowledge of apple products, and generally feel the fruit-filled love. You might even see me there — I’ll be the one gorging myself on free samples and apple cider donuts.