Don Wiss wrote: 
I think you will find that different fruits in warm climates mature
throughout the year.


[Ron] Sure, and there are lots of equatorial places where that is true. That
was the reason that I limited my comment to Europeans and their descendants.
It is also true that the Vikings reported that grapes were growing in
Newfoundland more than a thousand years ago. But that was in a warmer epoch.
My point is that Europeans are 70,000 to 80,000 years removed from Africa.
While there are times during that interval that fruits were available
through a large part of the year, in temperate areas, the dominant state has
been one of seasonal fluctuations. And those seasons seriously limited the
availability of fruits and berries through a good part of the year.   

As Jim mentioned, before selective breeding and hybridization, fruits and
berries were less sweet and there were no orchards or berry farms. We now
use insecticides, fences and many other modern measures to advantage human
competition for these treats. Ripe berry patches in the wild have the
unpleasant tendency to attract bears that also seem willing to munch on the
occasional hock of human when it becomes available. Birds, bugs and other
fruit and berry lovers may be less territorial about their food, but the
berry patch may also invite congregations of other predators, just as water
holes do in the desert. Nonetheless, during the principal growing season, we
were able to store fat on our bodies to prepare for the winter ahead. And
then we tried to survive the lean winters eating fats, meat and perhaps even
the occasional bit of frozen, overripe fruit that still clung to the vine or
tree, or lay at its feet. 

best wishes, 
Ron