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nafex - [NAFEX] book of possible interest: Forgotten Fruits by Christopher Stocks

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  • From: "Brungardt, Sam" <Sam.Brungardt@state.mn.us>
  • To: <nafex@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: [NAFEX] book of possible interest: Forgotten Fruits by Christopher Stocks
  • Date: Mon, 8 Jun 2009 09:50:40 -0500

Title: Message

A grape read

In his delightful celebration of Britain's forgotten fruit and veg, Christopher Stocks reveals that our food heritage is under threat. In the past 50 years, 75% of our apple orchards have been dug up, and we now import three-quarters of our apples. A seed company that boasts 12 varieties of peas stocked 53 in 1852. Once, every small town had a nursery selling local varieties, a "euphonious litany" of plants such as the Warwickshire Drooper (plum), the Orange Jelly (turnip) and Hero of the Nile (gooseberry). Many of these nurseries have gone and the old varieties are disappearing too, thanks in part to the EU's national list of saleable seeds. There are some wonderful anecdotes, from the malicious rumour (started by Pepys) that eating too many cucumbers could kill you, to why carrots are orange (they were developed as an "underground resistance symbol" in honour of William I of Orange). It is an intriguing hybrid of narrative history and encyclopaedia. Maps and a gazetteer also raise the possibility of vegetable tourism: eccentric perhaps, but, as Stocks says, that "seems an excellent reason to start doing it".



  • [NAFEX] book of possible interest: Forgotten Fruits by Christopher Stocks, Brungardt, Sam, 06/08/2009

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