North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

[Rob Halgren <halgren@msu.edu>]

> Regarding lifestyle choices.  I grow fruit for many reasons.  One of 
> the reasons is that my dad was a big gardener.  I want my kids to have 
> the same experiences that I was blessed with.  

	Can't agree more.  I grow fruit and vegetables because I was blessed 
with having fresh fruit and vegetables growing up.  My father always 
planted at least an acre of garden (with help from us kids, of course). 
And perhaps I was cursed.  I cannot eat most store bought fruit out of 
season, nor tomatoes (in or out of season).  They suck.  I can eat my 
own, as they taste like food.  I preserve my produce because my mother 
always did, it is wasteful not to, and because I like to do it.  It is a 
hobby, not a career.  Actually I do sell vegetables (corn, tomatoes, and 
pumpkins), but I donate every penny to a local charity.  Gave them a few 
hundred dollars this fall.  It isn't the money, it is the act of growing 
that is important.

	I'd consider raising meat animals, but given my career and lifestyle it 
is all I can do to take care of my half acre of garden.  I don't think 
that everyone needs to be self sufficient (nor could they), but it would 
be nice if everybody had at least a windowbox with a few tomato plants 
in it.  Seeing things grow, flower, and produce food is an invaluable 
experience.  I'd argue that everybody should at least visit a slaughter 
house, as well.  Not so they could be grossed out and converted to 
vegetarianism (heck, I used to eat sausage pizza after my trips to the 
abattoir), but because they should get a healthy appreciation of the 
fact that an actual animal is what turns into their pork chop.

> One of the advantages of growing food, even one tomato plant, is that 
> you can grasp the basics of the entire venture.  Water and compost (or 
> commercial fertilizer) make the plant grow.  Sun makes the fruit 
> sweet.  Air flow keeps the rot away.  Staking the plants keeps the 
> fruit off the ground, away from the slugs.  The Enron embarassment 
> would not have happened if corporate accounting was as transparent as 
> the cause-and-effect of growing tomatos, and if the consequences of 
> stupid decisions was as quick and ruthless tomato hornworms or slugs 
> eating 'maters.

	I'm not sure that any corporate accounting scandal would have been 
solved by garden ethics...  But I agree that it is important to teach 
our children how to grow food.  I suspect (but can't prove) that part of 
the reason the American population is becoming so obese (and I'm a 
little big myself) is because we don't understand where food comes from. 
 Comes from the supermarket, right?  All wrapped up in nice plastic 
packages with pretty colored labels.  If you pick it yourself, and 
prepare it well, there is no reason to eat most of the crap out there. 
I eat frozen blueberries as an evening snack.  I picked them, I froze 
them, I eat them.  Importantly, I don't eat a bag of chips or something 
equally processed and removed from reality.  Works well.

Rob

--
Robert G. Halgren, Ph.D.
Bioinformatics Specialist
GTSF - Michigan State University
http://genomics.msu.edu
(517) 353-7236    -   halgren@msu.edu