262/365 (September 19, 2010) – I remember when the kiwi fruit first appeared in the produce section of Overwaitea in Prince George. It was a strange and unusual creature from some remote tropical locale. When we grew up we looked forward to the first rhubarb, closely followed by the strawberries. That heralded the beginning of “fruit season” to me. Cherries, peaches, plums, apricots, pears raspberries, blueberries, currants. Of course I had to pick them all since my grandparents owned a fruit orchard. But the rewards were the best. We’d stuff ourselves silly with all that fresh fruit. Pick all day for sales, then spend the evenings canning and preserving for the winter.
The same went for peas, carrots, corn, beans…. such wonderful light flavoured things were available, it was a treat for the taste buds to enjoy these varied sweets, sours, acids.
But when fall and winter arrived, the choices of fresh fruit dropped down to apples, oranges, bananas, grapefruit, and grapes. Vegetable choices were fresh potatoes, carrots, broccoli, cauliflower. Everything else was either frozen (normal for us since we maximized the bounty of our grandparents farms) or canned (peas or corn). And that was OK, because we looked forward to the next season.
Jump forward 30 years and suddenly you can have anything you want at any time of year. I’m still stuck in the past a bit and when the cooler weather hits I fall back to the root vegetables (carrots, potatoes) because I know they are local. I’ve never met a tomato I like past late October and peaches in November are pulpy and flavourless.
And I can’t help but wonder if we are doing anyone any favours by buying inexpensive asparagus transported all the way from Mexico. Shouldn’t we be paying fair costs for things grown as close to home as possible?
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