Fresh Fruit
Jun 15, 2024
Berry Good Things
I'm a dad. And therefore it is my solemn duty to fill the world with terrible cringe-worthy strawberry puns for the next two weeks. I won't let you down.
Strawberry season is short, but oh how berry sweet it is.
It usually lasts all of three weeks and the poof, it's gone for another 49 weeks. But for me, it marks the start of summer. Red stained fingers and clothes, babies with sticky faces, and juicy red fruits for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
The picking right now is abundant and delicious. By the next email I write you the end of strawberry season will be on the horizon. It's that quick. We have strawberries filling our pockets and coming out of ears at the moment, and I'd like to have strawberries fill your ears as well (that didn't come out quite right).
And, if I can speak freely, I want you to avoid eating cheap imported berries all year long. Find a farm you know and trust, buy your berries from them, and stock up for the winter in any way possible.
The vast majority of cheap berries on the market are exploiting soil, water, and human labor at a scale that would have a hard time believing. Offshoring to countries where they are free to lower labor standards below what you would wish on anyone and avoid regulations on fungicides and fumigants that literally kill soil and the workers that apply these chemicals. This includes the large "organic" multinationals like Driscoll's as well.
I'm a believer that you are what you eat. That nutritious food cannot come from lifeless soil. That what our plants and animals consume, eventually ends up in our bodies and genes and children. The research is slowly backing this up, but it is certainly messy. And I recognize that I'm incredibly biased as a small farmer that grows organic strawberries, but honestly most of you don't live nearby and will never make it here for strawberry season. My main motivation as someone who thinks, reads, eats, and lives this every day is just to share what I believe to be true about eating and health.
*steps down from soapbox*
So to keep it short, just sidestep the whole issue. Google "upick strawberries near me" and find a few places that you can get to know and buy from directly. Then fill up your freezer. Then search for blueberries, or apples, or maybe some steaks and sausage. Meet some people, find some good food. And see if your life improves.
With any luck, you'll find you need another freezer.
Garrett & the Cider House Crew
