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