Washington Rep Calls Red Delicious “Gross”

Washington’s Southwest Representative is creating quite a stir in the local tree fruit industry.

“I think we all remember being presented with a really gross Red Delicious apple in school cafeterias," democratic Marie Gluesenkamp Perez recently said during a House committee meeting. "Maybe you like them, if you do, you're wrong. But Red Delicious, as we know in Washington state, are an inferior apple.”

Gluesenkamp Perez went on in her video posted to X, to compare the iconic Washington apple to having the taste to “old boot leather.” Click Here to watch that video posted on the Representative's account earlier this month.

Photo: Marie Gluesenkamp Perez X account

She argued the variety may have turned schoolchildren away from fruit altogether. The comments, posted to social media in mid-May, have drawn millions of views, and some pushback from Washington’s tree fruit industry.

Red Delicious apples once dominated Washington orchards. However, today, Red Delicious ranks #2 behind Gala apples.

Gluesenkamp Perez also claimed Red Delicious remained common in school cafeterias because of outdated USDA rules, but the Agriculture Department said there is no approved list of apple varieties for school lunches.

Click Here to watch Gluesenkamp Perez's video.