Why do so many apples in the grocery store look the same? And why do so many come from Washington? Come hear how Washington became the top apple producing state in the country, and how, in the process, it transformed apples into an industrialized commodity. Many regions in the West attempted to grow apples, but in Washington big apples became big business thanks to the work of scientists, investors, irrigators, railroad corporations, marketers, and apple growers. The history of Washington apples reflects larger changes happening in the American food system—changes that continue to affect our environment and the way we eat today. Dr. Van Lanen is chair of the Humanities Division and professor of history at Lewis-Clark State College and the author of The Washington Apple: Orchards and the Development of Industrial Agriculture; she blogs about food history at historyreheated.com.  After the talk, Dr. Carolyn Ross of the WSU Sensory Science Center will host an apple tasting. Talk sponsored by the WSU Libraries in collaboration with the Common Reading Program and the School of Food Science.