I was only a child when I had one of the worst dreams (or what I consider a horrible night terror) of my life. As I was sleeping, I dreamt of berries attempting to attack me as though they were repugnant fruit forms of Bob the Tomato and Larry the Cucumber from The Veggie Tales. It was a wild goose chase of fear as berries stalked me down streets and came after me for my own life. The culprit for my berry-fearing night terror: strawberries. Ever since my dream as a child, I do not eat strawberries. As ridiculous as it sounds, after being so taunted of the vicious red-seeded berries, I have become immune to not eating them. But, there is always one question that I have pondered since my bizarre mishaps with the diabolical fruit, why is the whole country so obsessed with eating strawberries? It had become my mission to figure out why mothers, children, grandparents and people of all ages had a zealous fervor for a fruit that is an alien in the fruit world as as strawberries are classified as the only fruit which shows its 200 seeds on the outside of their skin. Although, whether it’s Ralphs, Costco, The Farmer’s Markets, or an on-campus restaurant at Chapman University, strawberries are constantly tantalizing U.S. consumers’ one red, juicy and sweet-seeded bite at a time.
After all of my mishaps of strawberries, I began to research them and see where strawberries made their existence. The first strawberry goes all the way back to the time of the Greeks and Roman Empires. It was said that strawberries existed in the 1300’s, but the common strawberry made its debut in the 1750s in Brittany, France. Although wild strawberries existed before this, the type of strawberries we eat today were not introduced as a common fruit that could be easily grown until this time. The typical American strawberries we eat today are hybrid fruits. The berries were created by crossing the Fragaria Virginiana Strawberry from North America and the Fragaria Chiloensis Strawberry from Argentina and Chile.
To find out more about strawberries, I hit the streets of Orange County and asked a farm worker, Sarah for information about strawberries. Strawberries received their name due to how farmers keep the berries from rotting. When strawberries were first grown, farmers put down “straw” in order to separate the berries from weeds and slugs in the soil; thus the name “strawberries” was born. In order for strawberries to grow, the berries need to be sustained in about 75 degrees Fahrenheit. 75 degrees Fahrenheit allows strawberries to get the perfect amount of sweetness. If strawberries are grown in temperatures below 55 degrees Fahrenheit, the strawberries are too tart, or if strawberries are grown in above 85 degrees Fahrenheit, the berries are too sweet. Oddly enough, the best growing seasons for strawberries is in Southern California, which produces about eighty percent of America’s strawberries due to the consistency in Southern California’s favored temperatures. The most interesting thing that Sarah also mentioned was a term known as the “companion planting method.” By doing so, Tanaka farms plants onion in between all of their strawberry crops. By planting onions, it helps control pests, because onions give off a very stench smell, which is opposite of a strawberry’s sweet smell, so pests and animals are less likely to eat the farm’s produce. Not only is it a way to protect the fruit from the pests, but it also serves as a great way to maximize planting space because the farm plants more strawberries than onions, so it allows the farmers to plant two crops into one space.
Photo Credit: Laura Johnson
Picture: Taken at Tanak Farms in Irvine, CA. Tanaka Farms also uses the form of hydroponic planting
The one major problem which occurs with all farm produce, including strawberries is pests. The biggest problem in strawberry farming is spider mites. Spider mites are microscopic little pests which are notorious for sucking all the simple sugars out of strawberries, making the berries very tart. The other major dilemma is specified as “white rot.” White rot is a type of fungus which is impossible to eliminate once it affects strawberries. A local Farmers Market strawberry stand owner told when I asked him to explain what “white rot” entails that “white rot is to strawberries what athlete’s foot is to humans. It’s a nasty pain to handle.” Strawberries are grown by using runners, which are off-shoots of strawberry plants. It takes about three months for the runners to start producing flowers, but after, it takes about three weeks for the flowers to produce actual strawberries. Strawberry plants are also known as indeterminate plants; they can continuously keep producing. Once the strawberries are grown, they are then manually picked by farm workers. In order to find out as much as possible about strawberries, I talked to another farm worker, John at “Tanaka Farms.” John reported that “picking strawberries is by far the most labor intensive job. It’s all back-breaking work which is tiring and tedious, especially out in the sun all day.” Tanaka Farms contains five acres of strawberries alone, out of their thirty acres of total crop, but John says that he would “rather do anything than pick strawberries all day.” In recent years, some crops are picked with machines, but strawberries are a lot more complicated than that which requires painful manual labor. After the berries are picked, they are sold to customers. At the farm stand located right on the Tanaka Farm grounds, a small crate of strawberries are sold for premium price, at a price of $4.25 per pound. Tanaka Farms reported that they sell about 100,000 pounds of strawberries a year. If anything, the farm usually sells out of strawberries to sell to regular customers. If the farm sells a pound for $4.25 a pound, that is already a $425,000 profit from just strawberries which only takes up about five acres of land, which is about one-sixth of the farms overall acres. Not only that, but strawberries are sold nine out of the twelve months of the year, so other crops are producing income the other three months, along with all the other produce that is created on the other twenty-five acres of land throughout the year. The farm makes a great amount of money.
Photo Credit: Laura Johnson
Picture: Strawberries sold at Tanaka Farms in Irvine, CA. Each green basket is sold for $4.25
One aspect of the farm that also seemed very interesting was the CSA program. Through this program, families are able to support their local farm by buying fruits and vegetables straight from the farm on a weekly basis. Sarah approximated that 750 boxes of fresh produce are issued a week and service about 1,400 families. I did not know programs like this were offered and made me very curious to check if my local farm offered the same program.
A big question I had for Sarah was why strawberries at Costco seemed so gigantic, while the strawberries at the farm are so small. Sarah explained that there are many different types of strawberries grown, where Tanaka Farms produced San Andres strawberries. San Andres strawberries are a medium-sized strawberry. There are smaller strawberries often grown, known as alpine strawberries which are wild. All strawberries start of small, but the smaller they are, the more tart they get. Sarah explained that that is why some stores, such as Costco may grow a bigger type of strawberry, known as the Abilene strawberry which is very sweet. Sarah said that there are probably two main reasons if it is true that stores that sell gigantic strawberries, such as Costco may grow Abilene strawberries. The first reason is because they are such large berries, that they are normally a lot sweeter compared to other types. Secondly, the bigger the berry, the more space they take up in a container. Costco can grow bigger berries, putting then in standard-sized packaging, where you are not actually getting as much product for your money, per say if it was a smaller–sized strawberry put inside the container. It is more of an unbalanced consumer and producer ration if anything. Although she admits, GMO’s (Genetically Modified Organism’s) could also be a possible reason.
Photo Credit: Laura Johnson
Picture: Taken at Tanaka Farms in Irvine, CA. Tanaka Farms has 5 acres of strawberry fields
After learning the history of strawberries, I decided to put my differences aside and instead observe students at Chapman University and their addicted strawberry ways. I stood in line at the Einstein Bagel store on campus at Chapman on an early Monday morning. Monday mornings are always the worst, because every college student is tired from their weekend adventures, and is looking for a little pick-me-up and some highly-caffeinated coffee in order to see them through the struggles of Monday morning classes. I wait in line impatiently, as I see numerous students search through the fruit cups. One girl picks up about four fruit cups, and places them in a line side-by-side. She turns to her friend and asks, “Which cup of fruit has the most strawberries?” Her friend tells her to choose the second one and she proceeds to buy her strawberry-filled Monday morning breakfast. This may seem as some nonsensical pity first-world problem struggle story of a college student, but it made me wonder, why are strawberries amongst the top ten highest sold fruit in the U.S.? I mean, kids don’t even like fruit, right?
I was not satisfied with my observations, so I took my sightings to a local Ralphs grocery store and decided to observe shoppers in the fruit section. I watched as consumers walked through the doors of the grocery store and headed straight to the produce section. The strawberries were set-up directly in front of the entrance, hence the first point to realizing strawberries are favored because stores always put highly demanded products out in front in order for shoppers to grab them first. I watched as a spectator for 20 minutes, and within those 20 minutes, 8 out of the 14 shoppers who walked by the produce grabbed strawberries and placed them into their shopping carts. Statistically, 57% of shoppers opted for the strawberries. My observation proved that the world truly is obsessed with strawberries, or shoppers were drawn to the 4 for $5 sale. Either way, strawberries have obviously caused a great liking amongst consumers. Intrigued, I asked the produce worker Sam what he thought about the strawberries at Ralphs. Sam quotes, “Well, I will put it this way, out of all the fruit, strawberries are always the one fruit that I always have to replace other than apples and bananas. I watch people look at the strawberries every day, and they always want more.” I asked why he thought this was and he replied, “There are strawberries for sale most of the year. In Southern California we are fortunate enough to be able to always buy strawberries, and I think the product and consumer ratios are at a high demand.” I found my Ralphs observation very pleasing, so I decided to further my research into the strawberry world.
Photo Credit: Laura Johnson
Picture: Strawberries sold at Ralphs in the produce section. This is where my observation took place
My next order of business: seeing how strawberries are not only known as delicious berries, but, how they are incorporated into various aspects in films, literature, Greek mythology, music and art. Strawberries appeared in various movies such as The Hunger Games and Across the Universe. In The Hunger Games, strawberries represented righteousness, modesty and goodness. The reasoning for this symbolism is because the main character Katniss collects strawberries on reaping day and the mayor of District 12, who is known as being a good and moral character, was fond of strawberries. In Across the Universe, one of the main scenes displays the two main characters Jude and Max fighting, while strawberries splatter across the screen as symbols of blood and bombs during war. The scene is played along with a song titled, “Strawberry Fields Forever” by the Beatles. Strawberries are also incorporated into two recent famous songs which are both titled, “Strawberry Swing” by Coldplay and Frank Ocean. It is also a told tale that strawberries are symbolic of the Virgin Mary because in various paintings of her, artists would use strawberries to border their pictures. In Greek mythology, the strawberry is considered the symbol of Venus, who is the goddess of love. Strawberries are compared to Venus because they are heart-shaped and red, symbolizing a heart. Strawberries are also connected to love in the “Fruits of the Spirit” in Galatians 5:22 in the Bible. Strawberries are also a symbol of modesty because they are found under leaves, which is symbolic of hiding the juicy red fruit instead of flaunting it. Strawberries are even associated with toys, such as the Strawberry Shortcake Doll. Strawberries were the main reason for the creation and main theme of the doll as the Strawberry Shortcake character started off as a greeting card image and transformed into toys, television episodes, soundtracks and video games. Strawberries are often over-looked as only being a great treat, but strawberrierries have clearly affected our society to this day in numerous ways, other than being eaten.
Photo Credit: http://strawberryshortcakelane.com/
Picture: The iconic Strawberry Shortcake Doll
Video Credit: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n79B3FHi0Fs
The scene from Across the Universe where strawberries are symbolic of blood and bombs during war
Nutritionists have cited that strawberries are amongst the top ten healthiest fruits and vegetables in the world. When some consumers think of strawberries they think they are too high in sugar, but, surprisingly, strawberries contain less sugar than lemons. This may seem surprising due to the fact that lemons are associated with sour and strawberries are associated with sweetness, but this nutrition fact is due to the high amount of natural sugar found in strawberries. The reasoning for the natural sugar is because strawberries are pollinated by bees. Not only are strawberries healthy snacks, but also a great way to end a sweet tooth craving without adding a ton of unnecessary amount of extra calories. According to livestrong.com, strawberries only contain 25 calories per 1/2 cup, and no fat. They are high in fiber which leads to a healthy colon; help with digestion good cholesterol levels. Strawberries are also very rich in antioxidants, which are substances that protect cells from free radical damage and decrease a person’s chances of getting sick, mainly because of their high amount of Vitamin C and Iron.
After all of my research, I realized it was only evident why strawberries have become amongst America’s top sellers, even if I felt terrified of the red berries that taunted me as a child. They are more than just a fruit, they are what kids look for in their lunch pails at school after a long day, they are symbolic of the 4th of July, they are what shoppers at Ralphs and students at Chapman long for as they search for food to feed their souls, but yet, strawberries still have the aspect of being mainstream throughout films, literature, Greek mythology, music and art. So, I dare you, next time you go to a grocery store, farmers market, or even your local farm, watch as children, grandparents, students, and mothers smile when they see their favorite fruit sitting, awaiting to be eaten by consumers of all ages. Through my research, it is only evident that strawberries are loved by all people and have made their way to be known as the sunshine, summer, red, juicy, sweet fruit that is bought by consumers everywhere. Next time you dream of fruit villains, remember, maybe they aren’t so bad after all.
Food Writing Adventures 