Posts Tagged: strawberries

Valley strawberry farms get a publicity boost

The second best thing about May -- the first being Mother's Day, of course -- is sweet, fresh and flavorful Central Valley strawberries, especially those purchased at a roadside stand next to the field where they were grown. Even as the number of small-scale strawberry growers dwindle, the extraordinary fruit is getting some ink in Valley newspapers.

Today, the Sacramento Bee ran a business-section article about Southeast Asian farmers featuring Lo Saetern, who has grown "impossibly sweet strawberries" on 25 acres south  of Sacramento for 11 years.

The article was prompted by a UC press event slated for 10 a.m. tomorrow at Saetern’s strawberry stand, corner of Florin and Elk Grove-Florin roads, Sacramento. The media are invited to taste fresh strawberries and hear about University of California and Farm Bureau efforts to support local farms, according to a UC news release.

The Sacramento Bee story said a research team, led by UC Berkeley's Jennifer Sowerwine, is seeking new ways to bring Mien- and Hmong-grown berries to market, including a pilot program to provide berries to Sacramento City Unified School District's lunch program. The program will serve 19,000 schoolchildren fresh local strawberries once a week.

Many Hmong and Mien immigrants were farmers in their homeland and have translated their knowledge to their new world.

"Under the radar, through family connections, the farm became the primary means for information and for the transferring of cultural institutions," Sowerwine is quoted in the story. "They're finding patches of land that are close to roads, at the threat of development and maintaining a bit of green in places that were once agricultural."

This week the Fresno Bee ran a follow-up to an April article on finding local, environmentally green strawberry stands. Food writer Joan Obra devoted her Tuesday column to reader feedback on the green strawberry story. As Obra often does, she sought assistance from the UC Cooperative Extension office in Fresno. Agricultural assistant Michael Yang was able to help her determine where certain preferred strawberry varieties are being grown.

UC researchers work with a Southeast Asian farmer.

Searching for green strawberries

Most consumers like their strawberries bright red and juicy through and through, but some seek fruit that is a little bit green, at least in the ecological sense. Fresno Bee food writer Joan Obra ran a front-page column in the paper's food section yesterday that makes it easier to find the local low-input strawberries.

To determine why strawberry stands are scarce in Fresno, Obra turned to UC Cooperative Extension small farm advisor Richard Molinar. He said Fresno County's strawberry acreage has dropped from about 500 to 100 acres in the past nine years. Only about 25 local strawberry farmers are left.

"The processors aren't paying a premium, and they're not buying as much from local farmers as they used to," Molinar was quoted in the story.

But if you can find them, eating Valley-grown strawberries will probably shave a few pounds off your carbon footprint. Molinar said Valley strawberry growers, because of the drier climate, use far less pesticides and fungicides than growers who produce the fruit  on the coast.  Coastal berries are sprayed at least half a dozen times. Fresno strawberries, on the other hand, "if they're even sprayed, they might only be sprayed once," Molinar was quoted in the story.

Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey

California strawberries triumph in Beijing

The New York Times reported that China's ban on California strawberries has been lifted during the Olympics at the request of athletes who know what's good for them.

Chinese farmers produce strawberries for just two months of the year; California offers them year-round. This week the state sent 450 pounds of berries, the first of 35 or so shipments, officials said, according to the Times article.

In the brief story, writer Jennifer Steinhauer apparently didn't have the space to mention the key role University of California scientists have had in developing California's robust strawberry industry. About 80 percent of the strawberry varieties grown on 30,000 acres in California, stretching from San Diego County to San Mateo County, were developed by University of California breeders. For more on the UC connection with California strawberries, see this UC Delivers article.

California strawberries

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