Thruway travelers won’t have to get off the highway to taste New York apples. A dozen Thruway plazas are now offering homegrown apples at convenience stores.
“New York is the second largest apple producing state in the nation and the New York State Thruway travels right through some of our major apple producing regions, such as the Hudson Valley,” said Patrick Hooker, New York’s agriculture commissioner. “As Thruway travelers are driving past our apple orchards, it only makes sense to offer them a fresh and nutritious, locally grown apple at a rest stop.”
Hooker said the state negotiated with HMS Host, the vendor for 12 of the 27 Thruway plazas, to replace out-of-state apples with locally grown apples.
Apples being sold at the Thruway rest areas are coming from Twin Orchards in New Hartford (Oneida County), George W. Saulpaugh & Son in Germantown (Columbia County) and Devoe’s Orchards in Halfmoon (Saratoga County). The types of apples being sold include: Cortland, gala, ginger gold and macoun.
The participating Thruway stops are: Ardsley, Sloatsburg, Plattekill, Ulster, New Baltimore, Pattersonville, Iroquois, Indian Castle, Oneida, Chittenango, Junius Ponds and Clifton Springs.
The move to offer New York apples on the Thruway was good news to Jim Allen, president of the New York Apple Association.
“This will greatly help increase the profile of our apples with consumers and also provide motorists with a quality, healthy snack,” he said.
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