June 13, 2012 – Who decided that a tomato had to be red, that an apple should be either a Macintosh, a Red Delicious, a Golden Delicious, or a Granny Smith? Who decided that we would have one choice of bananas, and only three or four types of potatoes?
I spent a lot of my childhood summers on my grandparents fruit orchard, and they had an amazing garden. Huge. Definitely more square footage than or condo. There were a half dozen varieties of cherries, several types of apples, and the vegetables in the garden were of so many varieties.
But I also remember how much I hated produce shopping when I’d go back home. The choices seemed so limited. Who decided that the apples that North Americans should buy should be so few in variety. Same for all of the other produce. It is mind blowing to go to a grocery store or a farmers market now.
Purple carrots, 18 varieties of potatoes, several types of bananas, heritage apples, and yellow, orange, and purple tomatoes in addition to red.
It seems as if someone somewhere decided to dictate what we would purchase by eliminating everything else. I’m glad that we have gone backwards, in this case, and dragged out old seeds, old varieties, heritage fruits and vegetables for so many reasons.
Isn’t it funny how we can often find the future in the past?
6 comments
Food for thought.
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