The Fruit that Surrounds Us
I have a thing for trees. I like them. But not all trees. I only want trees that can give me something. Primarily fruit trees. It is great to see them, reach out and take a piece of fruit when I want to eat something. But they are not always readily available. Fruit mostly has a season. There are exceptions. Citrus is great because it can be year round. But apples, you have to wait. But waiting is part of what makes their taste that much better. And when you have an abundant supply, that is when you preserve. So that apples could be enjoyed when they are not on the tree.
But humanity has found a way to preserve apples with out the need of cooking or canning. We realized that the fruit does not decay or break down quickly if it is put in an isolation of sorts. By limiting its exposure to oxygen and keeping the fruit close to freezing, the natural process that causes the apple to soften and brown and go mushy all slows down to nearly zero. Thus, an apple can be shipped, sold and enjoyed at our leisure.
And I feel that there is a cost to this. A cost behind the scenes that we don’t fully grasp and is not revealed so that we can keep enjoying the convenience of apples anytime. There have been deaths associated with apple storage. The fact that the warehouses limit the amount of oxygen means people have died because they could not breathe. But deaths have happened in all large scale production. It’s tragic but is considered part of progress unfortunately. Also, how much energy is needed to keep these large storages cold enough to keep this fruit in such a state. It seems crazy to think about how much goes into creating a system so that we may have a convenience, only to take it for granted and watch our apples wither in the bowl when we forget to eat them or just are not in the mood for a piece of fruit right now.
Apples are not always perfect when coming from the tree. The store apples are such a small percentage of what is actually grown. But the mishapen ones, the ones that a moth found their way in, all have the same taste and texture. When you have access to a tree, there is more apples there and they can be picked at just the right ripeness. Albeit, the caveat is that you are on the hook for some work. And I think that is the key to people less likely to be inclined to be apart of some more self reliant way of living. Why work when I can buy? I have asked that myself in my youth. But when I see our current systems start to fluctuate, I start realizing, how can I find ways to understand the process better, so I can recreate the system within my local community?
Fruit has shown me that flavor is not attached to having access to something year round. Flavor comes with the season. And flavor comes from being grown close by. And flavor comes from waiting with sweet anticipation for the the arrival of a harvest. Without the wait, and fruit coming from another country, we end up sometimes with bland boring produce looking all the same at a store wishing for us to purchase them to continue the process. I would rather plant my own trees and see the changes throughout the year.
