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strawberries - 11/6/2007 7:46:50 AM

aviinterra

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While recently hiking through the lesser traveled roads of Europe, I came to know the taste of a real strawberry- the small, fresh, red berry that grows wildly or in some small garden. This is not the berry that we see in each supermarket, it is not the swollen, giant, tasteless berry that has been modified, shipped, chilled, and then finally sold. It is not even the modern organic strawberry, which is a mere shadow of it's forebearer- the real strawberry.
No, it is not only that handful of strawberries in some eastern village whose name I had a heck of a time trying to read- it is the unpasturized milk, full of fat and taste, the cheese made secretly in basements in large oak barrels- away from the sanitazion-loving EU inspectors who demand all be done in stainless steel- even at the cost of centuries old recipies.
My mind thought little when I ate a low bush blueberry, but my tastebuds and body knew immediately- this is what food tastes like, what industry and our over hyped 'modernization' have lost. This is where nutrients are, and this is the source of what was once meant by food being an aphrodisiac.
In thinking more, of today's problems and of where our country and the world are heading, the more I see that we have not progressed at all, but rather regressed, for we have given up more than the taste of a great strawberry, we have given up our right to cultivate that strawberry, and worse still, we have given up the right to the knowledge that there is such a thing. The most frightening thing of all is a child who says that the thumb sized blueberry tastes just like a strawberry, which in turn just tastes like chicken.
Have you once tasted real food, or what would you give up to do so? Would you pay more by the pound, would you support a local farmer, or - dear God- would you upturn your perfect but useless lawn and be able to feed yourself? Or is this a hopeless ramble while we wait for our cafeteria served slush?

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RE: strawberries - 11/6/2007 8:06:19 AM

RCdc

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I do grow my own and support local farmers - but simply supporting local farmers isn't enough if you have no idea how they grow, cultivate or breed and keep their produce in the first place.

My favourite place is a local apple farm about 20 minutes from me who grow a wide range of apples that aren't all uniform in colour, that aren't all the same shape and that have a try before you buy programme. When I grew tomatos this year, I was amazed at the texture more than the taste - and it really gave me a major flash back to when I was a child. The easiest to grow is mint and beans. The hardest - was squash... but that is probably my soil.

the.dark.

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RE: strawberries - 11/6/2007 8:40:20 AM

SimplyMichael

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I live in Sacramento, the breadbasket for the world. The best farmer's market in the region is two blocks from my house and it is a joy when the two of us can walk there together.

Nobody grows the small alpine strawberries here but there ARE farmers who grow fabulous strawberries and they have to be good for me to like them because I am not a fan and I pigged out on Sunday.

Real food is fabulous and most American's have never really had any. Alice Waters who founded Chez Pennise in Berkeley is one of the founders of the movement to use fresh local produce.

Most american produce is bred for one primary goal, transportability, taste is a distant four behind color and size. Heck, most american's don't even know how to tell if something is ripe because stores don't want you to know because ripe fruit is days away from spoiling.

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RE: strawberries - 11/6/2007 9:27:00 AM

mefisto69

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Hah....we are indeed eating mass produced garbage....fruits and vegetables picked green and expected to ripen on the way to market........bleeeeeeeech.

I grew up in a large family in So. Central Mass........our parents were 'survivalists' long before the term was popularized. Grandparents brought the traditions from europe and they carried them on. Each year we grew enough vegetables to last well beyond the winter. If we didn't grow the fruit, we went out each fall and picked it ourselves. My father and uncles fished the ocean and hunted yearly in Nova Scotia and northern Maine. We also made our own wine. Every fall we 'harvested' and the whole family chipped in for the 'canning' process. Before it became 'outlawed', we raised chicken and pigs - slaughtered fresh for our table. Our basement looked like what would have been the food warehouse of it's day.

Only once this past summer did I taste store bought tomatoes that had any flavor at all. I'm in a rural area once again, but - the local animals are so hard pressed for survival with the encroachment of McMansions, it's nearly impossible to fight them off and have a sucessful garden.

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RE: strawberries - 11/6/2007 10:31:10 AM

Celeste43

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Wild strawberries are great but not transportable. They'll rot before they get where they are shipped.

Strawberry season here is June, not the wild ones but a cultivar that does great in my climate and should last a day or two after purchase.

However if all I could eat was what grew locally, I'd have no fruits or vegetables for six months out of the year. And a steady winter diet of cabbage, onions, potatoes and apples as the only things which store well would have me ripping my hair out.

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RE: strawberries - 11/6/2007 10:43:14 AM

thompsonx

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quote:

ORIGINAL: Celeste43

Wild strawberries are great but not transportable. They'll rot before they get where they are shipped.

Strawberry season here is June, not the wild ones but a cultivar that does great in my climate and should last a day or two after purchase.

However if all I could eat was what grew locally, I'd have no fruits or vegetables for six months out of the year. And a steady winter diet of cabbage, onions, potatoes and apples as the only things which store well would have me ripping my hair out.

Celeste:
You might want to read a book called Animal,Vegetable,Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver ISBN 100060852550. You do not have to eat cabbage and potatoes all winter.
thompson

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RE: strawberries - 11/6/2007 10:58:49 AM

RCdc

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quote:

ORIGINAL: thompsonx

Celeste:
You might want to read a book called Animal,Vegetable,Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver
thompson

QFT

Also check out her other work, bloody good writer.

the.dark.

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RE: strawberries - 11/6/2007 1:38:36 PM

popeye1250

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quote:

ORIGINAL: mefisto69

Hah....we are indeed eating mass produced garbage....fruits and vegetables picked green and expected to ripen on the way to market........bleeeeeeeech.

I grew up in a large family in So. Central Mass........our parents were 'survivalists' long before the term was popularized. Grandparents brought the traditions from europe and they carried them on. Each year we grew enough vegetables to last well beyond the winter. If we didn't grow the fruit, we went out each fall and picked it ourselves. My father and uncles fished the ocean and hunted yearly in Nova Scotia and northern Maine. We also made our own wine. Every fall we 'harvested' and the whole family chipped in for the 'canning' process. Before it became 'outlawed', we raised chicken and pigs - slaughtered fresh for our table. Our basement looked like what would have been the food warehouse of it's day.

Only once this past summer did I taste store bought tomatoes that had any flavor at all. I'm in a rural area once again, but - the local animals are so hard pressed for survival with the encroachment of McMansions, it's nearly impossible to fight them off and have a sucessful garden.

LOL, I grew up in Woburn, Mass in the 50's & 60's.
My father had a pig out in the back yard.
There was this lady who he didn't like down the street by the name of "Gertrude."
The pig's name, "Gertrude."
We never had tomatoes and lettuce unless it was the summertime and we grew them in the backyard.
There were also farms in Woburn then so you could get fresh stuff at their stands.
But, in the wintertime in those days the "produce" sections of supermarkets looked nothing like they do now.
Much less available.
But, we always had fresh fish being so close to Boston!
It's getting hard to find fresh haddock these days.
One thing I never liked were those same sized rock hard "tomatoes" from Florida with no taste!

< Message edited by popeye1250 -- 11/6/2007 1:41:24 PM >

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RE: strawberries - 11/6/2007 5:29:06 PM

mefisto69

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popeye....i was born in the north end, at 3 we moved to Carryville with lots of land and 2 small dairy farms down the street ( i believe Carryville is still unincorporated).....then at 8 we moved to Milford.

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RE: strawberries - 11/6/2007 6:32:07 PM

TheHeretic

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Growing up around the edges of Portland Oregon, I doubt there was a day in the summertime when I would go home for lunch. Wild blackberries were everywhere, and the occasional rasberry bush would always get picked clean.

Now, the only blackberries I see in CA are 5.99 for 1/2 pint and tasteless.

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RE: strawberries - 11/6/2007 8:42:43 PM

SimplyMichael

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There are also all sorts of fruits and vegatables that are either unheard of or can't be transported. Parsnips are a wonderful vegatable most people have never had, I find them quite tasty.

Mulberries look like long blackberries but are sweeter and taste like a cross with a plum. Makes the best buttermilk icecream ever!

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RE: strawberries - 11/6/2007 10:20:42 PM

LuckyAlbatross

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When I lived in Ireland, my favorite Saturday ritual would be to buy a pint of strawberries fresh from Spain and two sugar donuts (not glazed or textured like you find anywhere in the US) and then relish them in my apartment.

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RE: strawberries - 11/7/2007 1:41:04 AM

RCdc

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Parsnips, in the UK, are a 'traditional' veg to have with a roast dinner, and go great in soups and stocks.
They are really easy to grow too, like carrots. I am guessing by your post that in the states, they aren't as popular or well known as they are in the UK - that I find interesting.(Yeah - so little things make me think) For christmas day, like sprouts, they are a 'must have' in the UK....

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