I just came across with this and thought it was very interesting, I understand the Farmers wanting to earn their pay but boy throwing out food, do you think there is a better way to resolve this?
Here's the link on the video.
http://abcnews.go.com/WN/strawberry-farmers-destroy-crops/story?id=10219820&page=2
Strawberry farmers destroy crops in south Florida.
I watched it 3 times because it was so incredible. From what I got out of it, the big January freeze upset the farmers schedule. They always plan for staggered harvests so they don't all get ripe at once. The plants went crazy on account of the cold and now they're all coming ripe. The market is so flooded that the most the farmer gets paid is $.25 per pound. They can't pay people to pick, pack and ship for that little bit so they're hurrying up with cleaning up the fields so they can plant something else and maybe make some $.
It makes perfect sense to me. This is a clear demonstration of what is wrong with having the majority of our eggs in one basket with certain crops. Strawberries were $1.99 at Walmart yesterday. In a short while they'll probably be double that and nobody will buy them and nobody will make any $. Farmers serving local markets could not have foreseen this opportunity and it will be lost.
California likes to brag that they supply 70-90% of certain crops to the nation, especially fruits. Now they've run out of water and lots of the prime farmland has been ruined by a buildup of salts from decades of irrigation. They're selling the ruined land to the solar energy companies so now they'll be farming electricity. It's a grand opportunity for local farmers to get cranking and for us to support them.
It also states in the video that most farmers won't consider allowing people to pick their own because they are afraid there will be some kind of accident that will result in them being sued. Just one more thing that needs fixing IMHO.
Thank you, Twiggybuds for your comments.
I think it's a wonder they can sell commercial varieties of strawberries at all. I'll pick up a box, inhale the luscious fragrance, and then put back the package of the little tasteless rocks. They're the same as Red Tennis Balls, commercial tomatoes.
Years ago, a friend tried to gently hand carry a bowl of my Fairfax strawberries on the plane from Virginia to Miami. They were mush by the time she got home, she told me.
Fairfax used to be the only home variety recommended, and now I cannot find any to buy anywhere, tho' I haven't looked for a while. Wild strawberry flavor in a big, heavily producing berry.
I had an unknown variety growing here and setting fruit, but they never had much strawberry flavor, and didn't ripen sweet, either.
Sigh.
Amen to that molamola, I just bought some strwaberries at walmart for my little girl the other day, the smell was wonderful but whn you bite into them, they were not sweet at all but just a tart and tasteless red berry. I decided to grow my own strawberries from now on, I just got some sequoia which are junebearing ones, for what I've heard they are very sweet, I also have some quinault ones an everbearring type I bought at walmart a while back, the flavor of this ones are not as sweet as the sequoia for what I understood but they are probably better than the ones I get from walmart.
Twiggy, you have explained it wonderfully, that is exactly what I got from the video, my question is, why couln't they let people pick for free for just lets say 3 days max and then let everybody sign a waiver so if in case they get hurt the farmer is not responsible?
I also see this going on in Spain, I was driving towards my grandmas place, by the way she lives in the land of citrus trees, all you see along the road are orchards full of lemon and orange trees all over the place. Well last time I was there the poor trees were loaded and nobody was picking up the fruit so you had mountains of fruit spoiling all over the place, I almost felt like stoping the car and picking it myself. When I asked my grandma what was going on with the fruit trees she just told me that it just cost a lot of money to pay workers to pick and to ship the fruit and that farmers were not making any $ at all. Same story here, it happens everywhere in the world.
I am not sure was was told that the junebearing strawberries have more flavor than the everbearring ones, I am going to try both and see.
I also think a lot of big growers pick their strawberries a little earlier than normal and therefore they lack flavor, I found tons of green strawberries in the ones that I bought from walmart, but I guess that is not the place to go if you want quality fruits and veggies.
I have found that different named varieties of strawberries have different flavors and amount of sweetness.
Just like apples are different, or used to be sixty years ago!! Ever bitten into a Grimes Golden or an Albemarle Pippen that was just fallen and lying in the sun?
Or a Red Delicious from the top of the tree? Red Delicious in the grocery is not an apple, tho' it looks like one.
Melissa the grouch!
I had a few Tennessee Beauty strawberry plants last year that tasted wonderful. Unfortunately I got the bright idea to get some of the newest ones named Sweet Charlie. I ordered them late and they weren't settled in good when the freeze hit and now they're pitiful. Maybe next year.
They weren't huge but the taste was amazing compared to the ones from the grocery store. I've read many times that refrigeration harms the taste of tomatoes and I think it also messes with strawberries and really all fruits. I tried picking mine when I'd see just a little pink so the slugs wouldn't get them. I'd leave them on the counter to ripen and usually by the next day they'd be drying out and maybe still not all the way red. I think they might be the most obvious example of how we sacrifice quality for our long distance supply system.
Farming has always been a risky business due to weather/disease and now more than ever with the mono-cropping that our system is based on. We would have a far more secure and safe supply with diversity at all levels.
The legal liability thing could easily be fixed with legislation but I don't think it will happen. The state legislature here is well populated with lawyers whose main concern is creating more work for their industry. I have to drag a hose across my front walk and I always have the little nagging concern that somebody will come along to trip over it.
Yes it's very sad. I'm here in Florida and even though this is my favorite time because my whole family loves strawberries and we buy huge amounts during this time I feel so badly for the local farmers here. I bought a huge flat which was 12 punnets for under $8 the other day. As happy as I am to save, I do feel bad for them. At least they didn't go to waste and they were gone by the weekend's end with 4 kids. I had my fair share and they were certainly lacking sweetness which must be something to do with the cold snap because usually they are very sweet this time of year.
I just purchased off someone on craigslist strawberry plants for $1, they are junebearing so I got about 40 of them and put them to use in my hydro stacker....hopefully they'll be sweet as you say carminator1. I have about 4 plants already in my garden that I bought from lowes, not sure what type they were but they were very sweet, especially when they have been warmed in the sun.
I come from Australia and remember my auntie having a strawberry farm and there was nothing better than going there to visit and helping pick the strawberries for the markets.....although I seem to remember eating way more than putting in the basket to sell! She used to hire backpackers to pick which is what a lot of Aussie farmers do for fruit picking. I guess that wouldn't be allowed here though....Australia was always the place to go to backpack around and work on the farms for a couple weeks at a time and pick fruit, they would give you housing, feed you and you just stayed there for the picking time and moved to another farm.
Very sad that they wont allow the public to come and pick them because of lawsuits.
I bought the Quinalt everbearing ones last year for my strawberry jar. They just sat there all year and I think I got 4 berries from the entire jar (8 plants?). But they over-wintered well and I have 52 little berries out there right now -- I'm ridiculously excited about it. Cross fingers they will ripen up and be flavorful.
astcgirl, when you said "punnet" I thought you might be from Australia. Maybe that term is used here too, but I first heard it while living in Alice Springs. No strawberry-picking there, but we had our share of citrus (it was fun trading lemons, grapefruit and oranges with neighbors) and the area was also famous for its date palms. Great place.
A few years ago in Belgium we had famers dump whole truck loads of tomatoes in the rivers and North Sea, because Moroccan tomatoes were much cheaper, and nobody bothered to buy the native tomatoes anymore.
It looked like blood in the rivers, super sad image...
Two years ago the Florida tomato growers were wiped out with the salmonella scare that ended up being from jalapenos from Mexico. Then earlier this year there was lots of citrus damage and now the strawberries. California has endless water shortages and now the mid-west has raging nematodes messing with their corn. Pollinating insects are disappearing everywhere.
There's a sleeping giant of a problem that most haven't even heard about. The price of phosphorus went up 800% from 2006-2008. That's a big necessity for plants. American farmers have used it in excess for years so it's been washing into our streams and out to the oceans. The problem is that the only known deposits large enough for mining are in Morocco, Russia and China. We've already used up most of ours which was in Florida. We will have to start recovering it from our waste and from organic matter. This comes at a time when we are planning to use waste for bio-fuels and crop residues for ethanol. Something will have to give.
With all this calamity plus the government considering some expensive new regulations, I see lots of impact on consumers and opportunities for small growers everywhere. Things simply have to change.
For too many years plant breeders were encouraged to go for looks, shelf life, yield and disease resistance at the expense of taste. The classic example is tomato 'Moneymaker'. The name says it all! However, I do detect a return to concern with taste. Strawberries like Marshmello, Brussels like Trafalgar are indications of improvement.
Punnet is a term used in England also.
Wow I had no idea about the phosphorus shortage, thanks for sharing. I however was aware of the polinating insects, I did see a program that did mention that bees are in darger of beign extinct. Now this is a very concerning issue to many of us, I am sure.
I agree that things are going to have to change, I am glad that many of us are taking a stand to grow out own food.
An interesting thread; I have found the strawberries here (I'm new to FL) to taste like rocks. The frozen berries at Aldi's are better, but not to write home about. I appreciate the information on strawberries, as I plan to grow my own (for the first time) this fall.
Folks generally don't know what good food tastes like, I fear, and since I do and have found little good tasting food since I relocated here 6 months ago, I'm counting on my garden to feed me soon.
This discussion illustrates how everything's connected, don't you think?
I agree, I have not found strawberries at any store to taste anything like strawberries should.
I however do remember good tasting fruits and veggies since I was born in Spain, and at that time you bought everything fresh and from different local farmers, they still have good markets out there but the big chain suppermarkets just don't have the quality stuff anymore.
Hello, everyone. Happy Easter.
Taste, looks, shelf life, size, color, markettability notwithstanding, I believe it should be against the law to not harvest and simply rip out anything ready to pick so you can get a head start on another crop. Hiding behind considerations like lawsuits if someone gets hurt while picking is just plain reprehensible. Am I the only one to have heard of waivers? Sign here and go pick your heart out. How many soup kitchens could have benefited from those lost crops? I saw that report on TV a couple times during the news and I was disgusted with the whole thing.
Respectfully submitted.
Sylvain.
There are 'you pick strawberry farms ' in most of the Gulf States where you can pick your own at a reasonable price
At one time the southern growers had to detroy the plants after harvest because they did not go dormant
They ordered new dormant plants from northern sources in late winter.
The only problem is, I am not sure what it takes to get a legar waiver, it could take lots of $, lawyers etc... for a farmer to get a legal piece of paper that entitles people to pick the fruits, sometimes it is easier said than done, and with people suing anybody for anything it is just not as easy as it should be.
My DH used to own a construction company and boy the insurace, worksman comp, liability insurance, etc,,etc... all the $ he had to place to pay all the workers if in case they got hurt during their work, it is incredible how much money you have to shell out just to start your own company and I would imagine your own farm as well.
I understand what you are saying, and wish the legal system would facilitate things a little bit, but as far as I understand it right now it is really hard to make $ if you are a farmer or even a business owner.
I actually agree with Twiggy, I really think if I was to start my own farm I would diversify a little bit, monocroping is not as lucrative when things like this happen. Also I would look at perhaps forming a CSA program as well.
CSA? Is that a farm-share type program? I'd love to find one nearby.
I think it's a crime as well...seems soup kitchen would already have something in place...I hope they explored all the options.
Yes, I believe there are various types. One type of CSA is where the farmer selects veggies that he is producing at the time and can eirther send the fresh prodduce to different clients or clients come to the farm and pick up their baggie of produce. I believe you pay a monthly fee, so you are helping the farmer with costs of producing veggies and he or she in turn give you fresh produce. Not a bad idea if you ask me.
I belonged to one in Hoopa, CA....there was an organic farm down the street from me. Folks paid $75 for the season plus $15/week for a box of fresh farmer produce- selected which was picked up at the library in "town." Overall it was a good value, but I like to be able to pick my own and almost every week I got something I didn't want (bell peppers) so gave them away.
Crone's Cradle, a farm near here had such a thing, but not currently. I haven't found another. So, I'm going for growing as much as I can myself.
This message was edited Apr 4, 2010 3:59 PM
4paws, sounds like the best plan, here in Mobile I hardly see anyone growing food, sometimes I feel like I am one of the few that just started in this venture, so far I love it! plus like you said you can grow whatever varieties you want. I am always short of space though, and always wish to expand but I think smaller is more manageable for a beginer like me though.
Carmin,isn't there a upick strawberry farm across the bay from you.
I think it is in Robertsdale
It was a Burris Farm operation a few years ago
Coming back from Orange Beach I use to pick quit a few and sometimes glean potatoes after they were havested
Charlie
carminator1, I'm doing square foot style garden and it really packs in the plants. The basic plan is to only use a 4x4 foot bed and each of the 16 square feet is a different plant(s). You can get a lot in one, at least a big salad for two, with tomatoes and cucumbers if you put an easy trellis on one side.
so small is fine, is what I was getting to.
:-)
Hemental, I would imegaine there are, I will have to do a little research and see which ones are closer to my house, I love the you pick strawberries farms, I used to go to one when I lived in Pensacola.
Yes I am doing a little of the same except I am trying to use the undersowing method as well and see if that works. You practically undersow things such as lettuce or mustards etc... under taller plants such as maters, peppers etc... This way the plant receives more shade and also you get a natural mulch. This is my first year trying so we will see if it works.
Yes, yes,yes - I'm trying that too. I'm told that the heat here will kill most things very early in the summer, so to try to keep tomatoes growing, I've planted tall okra to shade them some, and also lettuce under peppers....