Dr. Gene Kupferman has a dream of having every piece of fruit that leaves Washington State be edible and ready (or nearly ready) to eat.     Pears present a challenge to his vision, because they don’t travel well when shipped ripe but must be conditioned before shipment or at the retail level to speed up the at-home ripening by a consumer. With support of the Pear Bureau Northwest, Kupferman began research last year to identify optimal pear conditioning methods throughout the storage season. He recently gave a progress report of his work with early and mid-season fruit during the North Central […]