This guy has the right idea. Photo via Flickr user dominiqueb.
Hi there,
Watermelon is, by far, my favorite food. I’m quite excited that watermelon season is approaching, but for the five years since I’ve moved to New York, I’ve had trouble eating as much as I’d like to.
I find that pre-cut watermelon often isn’t as good as buying a whole watermelon (and is much more expensive), but buying a whole watermelon and transporting it to my house on the subway or walking it back many blocks is tough as well because they are so heavy. My question for the Watermelon Board: how do you as an organization navigate the substantial weight of the average watermelon (I.E. is the size and weight of a watermelon a PR nightmare for the board?) And do you have any transportation tips for those who don’t own a car? Is there a preferred watermelon holster the board can recommend? Or better, a good bike rack capable of holding a watermelon?
Hi Jason,
I'm glad to hear that you love watermelon as much as we do! I understand some of your difficulties in enjoying as much watermelon as often as you like due to some quite physical obstacles of living in such an urban environment and not having as much access or transportation for your watermelons.
Admittedly, I was in NYC in December and saw fresh-cut watermelon packages that did not look very nice at all. Due to the nature of retail outlets not being sprawling spaces that may cut their own fruit from bins of watermelon in the back, there are fresh-cut fruit and vegetable processors that provide these products and services to many of the smaller retailers. Even convenience stores as you've probably seen.
As far as your question of a 'watermelon holster' the best I can recommend is learning to fold a Furoshiki bag from a large fabric scarf. I know it's not likely, but here is a YouTube video that I used to learn:
I've often had to transport a large, whole watermelon on my own, and happily it does fit into your average grocery store tote bag. You know those reusable, fabric bags that fold up? As far as fitting on a bicycle rack, I can't say we have a recommendation there. I hope the internet provides suggestions for stability and safety in transporting your watermelon. Another option is to look for the mini, or personal-sized watermelons that are growing in popularity. These are about the size of their melon cousins, the cantaloupe and honeydew. While you don't get over 3 dozen servings from a mini watermelon, it still is more easily portable
I have yet to try this scarf method, but I do feel much better about my switch to full watermelons only. In a follow-up email, I asked about the salmonella outbreak, and Barlow tells me the board is looking into it:“We are watching the outbreak closely,” she said. “And while every situation is different, we have not seen any data that supports a clear picture of where these problems can happen. We continue to focus on producing the safest and best watermelons everyday.”If you are able to get a full size watermelon home, there are so many ways to incorporate that healthy and delicious watermelon to recipes that you can pack to go. (In fact our press kit theme this year is Watermelon On the Go.
I wish I had the right answer for you to help solve this issue. Hopefully as the domestic season kicks in, the quality of the fresh-cut watermelon will improve near you and you can simply pick up these convenient grab-and-go containers.
If you have any other watermelon questions, I'm happy to help hopefully provide an answer!
Thanks for thinking watermelon! [Editor's Note: they signed off with a watermelon emoji that is breaking our site to include but please just envision a watermelon here]