Taitung youth farmers refute claims that pineapples and sugar apples are "too sweet" and call on the government not to stigmatize farmers' livelihoods

In response to Liang Wenjie, deputy chairman of the Mainland Affairs Council, who recently said that "pineapple custard apples are too sweet and Taiwanese almost don't eat them," Taitung Youth Farmers said that everyone has misunderstood pineapple custard apples. In fact, it is about the same sweetness as the large-eye custard apples that are traditionally sold domestically, and even has a slightly sour flavor. If it is too sweet, it is probably overripe. Pineapple custard apple has been developed into a variety of processed products. Even foreign tourists who come to Taiwan will want to eat pineapple custard apple.

Legislator Huang Jianbin held a press conference today and invited County Council Speaker Wu Xiuhua and local young farmers to attend. Qing farmer Zhang Shengyao pointed out that the outside world generally thinks that pineapple custard apple is "too sweet", which is completely a misunderstanding of it. In fact, the sweetness is about the same as that of traditional custard apples, and sometimes even slightly sweeter. The reason why it gives people the impression of being overly sweet is mainly because pineapple custard apple is a late-ripening fruit. Many consumers leave it at room temperature for too long and taste the fruit after it is overripe, which results in the phenomenon of being overly sweet.

Zhang Shengyao emphasized that pineapple custard apple actually has a unique slightly sour flavor. It tastes refreshing and not easy to be greasy. It is very representative of the local area. In recent years, farmers and related units have also developed diversified processed products such as sparkling drinks, ice products and desserts. Tourists from Japan and South Korea come to Taiwan to look for it. It is definitely an internationally recognized high-quality fruit.

Green farmer Zhang Jianyufeng also explained that since the pineapple custard apple was introduced to Taiwan in the 1970s, it took nearly 30 years of breeding and research and development by agricultural experimental units and producers to develop the top-notch flavor today. It was not a crop that existed for export from the beginning. Taitung's geographical environment is most suitable for the growth of custard apples. Farmers rely on this industry to settle down and support their families. Before the international alternative market is fully established, maintaining stable existing channels is for basic life and has nothing to do with ideology.

Another young farmer, Chen Jiwei, said that grassroots farmers don’t care who the fruits are sold to. Their only desire is to sell the products they have worked so hard to grow.

Legislator Huang Jianbin and Speaker Wu Xiuhua finally jointly called on the central government not to sit in an air-conditioned room and make sarcastic remarks to the sweating farmers at the grassroots level, or even stigmatize the act of making a living. The government's responsibility should be to help find channels from the perspective of farmers, win export incentives and subsidies, return politics to politics and agriculture to agriculture, and encourage the Chinese people to take action to support Taitung's local high-quality pineapple custard apples.