In praise of seediness

In my determined, knowledge-seeking Web surfing, I happened to run across the above picture. Do you have any idea what that pathetic seed-filled fruit is? Unappealing, for one. Probably inedible for another. Guess what? It’s the ancient ancestor of our most-eaten fruit (in the United States, anyway) the Cavendish banana! Over a period of 5,000 years or so, we humans have managed to reduce its seediness and extend its length. We managed to make it yellow when ripe, and easy to peel. Concurrently we invented the knife so we can slice it into nice little discs to adorn our breakfast cereal. Another plant we’ve managed to de-seed is the watermelon. Pale tan little vestiges of the robust black seeds of yesteryear are scattered through the flesh of this favorite summer melon. The fun of spitting those little black missiles is forever lost to today’s generation. Even pitted olives take the fun out of squeezing those hard little ovals between thumb and forefinger to see who can gain the greatest distance, or hit the cat square between the eyes! (Bonus points if you hit the eye!) If we keep this de-seeding up, what will happen to our morning’s cereal? Seedless Wheaties won’t be the Breakfast of too many Champions, nor will Riceless Krispies give us our beloved Snap, Crackle and Pop. Let’s hope our pursuits along this line don’t escape the laboratory and deprive us of all our food. Wouldn’t it be awful if we were reduced to eating blind cats!