Grappling with grapes

Continuing the theme from my last post about spider news, we have a “news” story about a woman who found a spider in some grapes. The article has a decent mix of level-headed fact reporting and questionable phrasing/behavior. Apparently, finding a spider in a bunch of grapes was the woman's worst nightmare, which is a sign to me that she must live a very comfortable life. My worst nightmare would be something more along the lines of realizing that ghosts are real and that they can force us to watch their terrible television programming in our minds as we go about our daily routines. Either that or having to wander the torture chamber known as Bed, Bath, and Beyond. Yugh.

Anyway, the woman was at least aware of the fact that produce will occasionally come with a bonus toy (or demonic terror, depending on your point of view), so she didn't fly into full panic mode. Unfortunately, the spider was killed. Since the grapes were likely transported from elsewhere in the country (or planet), it might actually be preferable to not let the spider go in the wild. Aside from making for some interesting population genetics, there could be potential for spreading parasites, bacteria, or viruses along with the spider. I advocate for keeping spiders as pets until natural aging takes the spider away to that big web in the sky. They are pretty easy to care for and are fascinating to watch.

As people with the financial means continue to increase the demand for organic produce, there should be an expectation for a higher incidence of finding spiders or other critters in fresh food. This is only a problem if we are incapable or unwilling to check produce ourselves and remove the offending arthropod. Grocery stores wash and assess their goods, but they can't catch everything. So, should you find an eight-legged prize in your next bunch of grapes, celebrate. Organic practices encourage control of pests by predators, which is better for the environment than widespread pesticide application. Plus, the spider does not want to be in your house and certainly means you no harm.