LAKE HUNTINGTON  — Sullivan West staff and students in grades 7–12 congregated around the bus loop Friday morning to take a bite at the annual New York State Big Apple Crunch.

Secondary School Principal David Eggleton set the tone for the morning with a reminder to “please be respectful” and to appreciate the special guests who “took their time to come and be here with you all.” 

Eggleton described the event as one where, every year on or around October 24th, folks across New York State celebrate the Big Apple Crunch.

“Last year, New York saw over 2.3 million people participate in the Big Apple Crunch,” explained Eggleton. “The program has exceeded all hopes.”

Only growing and growing since its 2012 beginnings, the Big Apple Crunch has harvested into an event where hundreds of thousands of students across schools and college campuses in New York State take part every year. Sullivan West Secondary brought out approximately 420 students and roughly 65 to 80 staff members to take part in the celebration.

Part of the event serves to highlight what New York produces in terms of the apple industry, which is 30 million bushels annually. Speaking at the event were Food Systems Program Manager at Cornell Cooperative Extension Alan Carroll and his co-worker Horticulture Subject Educator Katie Gasior.

Gasior told students that, if the State of New York were a country, its yearly harvests would rank “just outside the top 20 globally.” 

“To celebrate this bounty every year, Farm-On partners with local growers in New York’s Apple Belt with a Big Apple Crunch,” stated Gasior.

She also reminded students of the core benefits of eating locally grown produce, explaining that “fresh fruits and vegetables have more nutrients than the produce that travels a long way to get to your cafeteria, grocery store or kitchen.” 

Gasior cited that studies have shown fresh produce travels an average of over 1,500 miles before it gets eaten, distances known as food miles, and added that these can be reduced “pretty close to zero” by eating apples grown right in the Catskills region.

“That’s excellent. How about them apples?” Carroll responded, drawing amused laughter from students. “Apples are versatile: they can be used for snacking, baking, sauces, freezing, juicing, or drying.”

“The event is designed for us all to show unity when holding the apples right before we consume them,” Eggleton stated.

Following Eggleton’s reminder, students filed one after another to play their part in the statewide tradition.