About an apple...

Today I bought an apple.  A golden delicious apple from Albertson’s because they were on sale.  I decided to research the PLU or price look-up code found on the lovely little sticker that is found on some of our produce.  

The four-digit code on this apple was 4020.  The sticker also had the Washington apple logo on it.  Washington Fruit & Produce Company’s website confirms that this is a large Golden Delicious apple.  

I also found out that this apple’s four digit code reveals that it is a conventially grown apple, or one that was grown with chemicals.  An organic apple would have a five-digit PLU starting with a 9.  And a genetically modified apple would also be a five-digit code that would start with the number 8.  These were all things that were new to me.  

I also learned that apples at the grocery store could be 6 months to a year old.  At naturallysavvy.com, I read that apples are picked “slightly unripe,” and then treated with a chemical called 1-methylcyclopropene (1-MCP).  Afterwards the apples are waxed and boxed and put in a controlled cold storage where the oxygen level is greatly lowered, basically putting the apples “to sleep for 6-12 months.”  

Louise Picot goes on to say that this is mainly because “so much of our food is produced far from where we live.”  In the case of my apple, that is true, as it was grown a couple of states away, and stored for how long?

Unfortunately I don’t live close to an orchard anymore.  When I lived in Logan, Utah, my family and I would look forward to the fall apples at Paradise Valley Orchard.  Their apples were always so delicious and fresh, and we would sometimes pick them ourselves.  I have never had an apple from the grocery store that tasted as good as an apple from a local orchard.  

I would definitely like to eat as much local produce as possible, and that is one reason why I am planting a garden this year, even though I don’t have a lot of time right now.  I look forward to knowing exactly where my produce comes from, and the satisfaction that comes from producing something that you have worked hard at.  I also hope to share this local produce with friends and neighbors. 

http://www.washfruit.com/plu_codes

http://www.plantea.com/genetically-modified-foods.htm

http://naturallysavvy.com/eat/how-fresh-are-your-supermarket-apples

Farming Roots

We had an assignment to trace our farming roots.  Although I didn't know a lot, I knew that on my dad's side of the family, there had been farmers.  It was interesting to learn more about our family history and to make some historical connections as well.

My father has an ancestor named James H. Saunders, who was born in England in 1806.  He immigrated to America in his teens, and became a sheriff as well as a farmer.  He settled in Southern Maryland, where every generation after him farmed until the 1950's.

I learned from my dad that they mostly raised wheat and corn, and then at some point began growing tobacco as well.  He said that the state specified how much tobacco you could raise, based on how much land you had.  It was a very lucrative crop, but also very labor intensive.   My dad worked on his grandpa's farm in the summers, so he got to experience this process first hand.  After the tobacco grew about four feet tall, you would spear the cut ends and hang it to dry in the barn. Then, months later, you would take the tobacco off of the sticks, pull the leaves off the stalks, and put them into a basket.  The leaves would be piled about three feet high, and then tied on the sides to hold it all together.  A buyer would come to the farm to get the leaves, and then the stalks were thrown into the manure spreader and thrown back onto the fields.

My dad's dad did not continue farming after he married.  My dad was born during World War II, and because his dad already had five children, he was not drafted into the military.  His dad got a job as a crane operator in a shipyard in Baltimore, Maryland loading and unloading ships.  This is consistent with the Agricultural Timeline, as it points out that beginning in the 1940's, many southern farmers left farming to get a war-related job in the city.  As my dad stated, his dad "followed the money," and as a father of a growing family he needed a larger income.

  Another thing I learned is that my dad said after the war, quite a few Navy ships were being retired, and his dad was able to bring home these hard chocolate candies that were on the lifeboats.  He said that chocolate candy was not available during the war, so they thought they had "died and gone to heaven!"

I don't really remember my grandpa, as he passed away when I was very young.  I do know that he was a good, hardworking man, and that these traits were passed down to my dad as well.  Growing up, our family had a hobby farm or farmette.  We had a few acres and raised goats, chickens, calves, and sometimes pigs.  Our farm experience has helped me cultivate these traits as well and I hope to instill them in my own children.  

 

Farm Blog

So I am starting this new blog for a class that I am currently taking.  The class is ENGL 3630, and the title is "The Farm in Literature and Culture."  

This will be a place where I can post about different farm topics throughout the semester.  I am looking forward to learning more about this important and challenging occupation through literature this summer.  

I found this quote that I like:  Our deep respect for the land and its harvest is the legacy of generations of farmers who put food on our tables, preserved our landscape, and inspired us with a powerful work ethic.                                         

                                                                   --James H. Douglas, Jr.