Who would invent a bizarre fantasy like this? Wow!
Here are some photos from Russian food stores to dispel this myth.
I do not know. Likely invented by the angry Russian community that lives 1 block away and said that was for horses.
Somebodyâs opinionated babushka
My father in law was born in Malta, and he will not eat corn, says itâs pigâs feed.
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The soup kitchen here will take your garden vegetables, even the âweirdâ ones. I donât know what they wound up doing with Upo or Bitter Gourd, but they took them.
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It seems in Vancouver, WA, that opinion was correct. The Russian Community here is very pleased NOT to get the canned corn.
In my city we have quite a variety of Asians. So I bet if somebody brought in some Bitter Melon or yard long bean they would snap it up.
My townâs full of Asians as well but they donât seem to be the people in the soup kitchen here. I see very few Asians among the volunteers and the âclientsâ. Chinese who grew up in China often have the most interesting gardens since they werenât brought up with all the pretenses Americans have. Most of them are very organized but theyâre not âprettyâ and theyâll put them all over the yard, including the front yard.
My wifeâs Filipino. A little bit different kind of Asian, but also from a world with less pretense and more respect for hard work than younger Americans seem to have.
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I think we benefit to observe and ask questions about all these types of gardens.
The only snooty thing I see in modern American and UK yards is mowed grass lawns. We did not need it until the lawnmower. Time to question the usefulness in public and private spaces. We can make things âlook niceâ without so much grass.
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To do this, you first have to fight municipal zoning commissions and homeowners associations
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I give more more away to relatives and neighbors than I keep.
Iâd be surprised if everyone doesnât do something like that.
Then be suprized.
Most of the older homes in downtown here have an older pear or apple in the front yard, and in fall they are all over the sidewalks.
In unincorporated Hazel Dell, one pear tree is huge, branches broken off, leaning a bit now, and still bearing loads of huge fruits that fall to the ground and sidewalk.
The problem is that older plantings are ignored by recent owners, who either are too old and frail, do not like the fruit much, or do not know what to do with it all so they do not pick much if any.
So it becomes a mess, and they do not care. Worse? We have a lot of hungry people here who live not far from there downtown homeless. They started some thing in a nearby city to be called to pick fruits unwanted, but if we have it here (I am pretty sure we do) it is not used much.
Most just donât care. Foodâs cheap these days and most people donât even eat much fruit anyways. Best to just get pre-bagged salads, fruit salads, and the occasional banana from the grocery store (if theyâre healthy). In just a few generations this country went from the default being that you grow lots of fruits and vegetables in your yards to one where not only do they not grow their own, but a good number eat out all the time and donât have the confidence to do much more than make Kraft Mac & Cheese on their own.
Thereâs very few people in my general area who keep vegetable gardens who arenât immigrants.
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Joe is absolutely right.
Unfortunately.
So if these people moved here from California and bought it from the estate of the original owner who used the fruit, they may not want it, and may not think of those who do want and need it.
And double crisis because my county is one of the best for growing foods, and they keep paving over farmland for cheap store and fast food places. SMH
In the US, nobody would need be hungry, and far less be sick, if we just ate food we grew, and helped one another. It is a cultural shift that needs to change things.
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Probably, itâs a quality issue. Somebody has to come get it BEFORE it drops (to avoid E. coli contamination naturally), and they have to bring a LADDER or two to do it. These are uncared-for trees riddled with disease and insects. Even if you pick bushels, itâs just biomass; it wonât keep. All you can do with the fruit is to grind it for cider, which wouldnât be all bad, particularly if youâre going to let it âfirmamentâ a little, but it wouldnât look good to use a food bank as an outlet for THAT KIND of product. Weâre back to the cost of processing and storage. Not only do you have to pay to press it, you have to freeze it and warehouse it, and then most recipients wouldnât know how to thaw a half-gallon jug or care to.
The unincorporated area tree is huge, needing a ladder, and may have diseases or bugs.
The ones in city? Nope. Very easy to pick small front yard trees. They just do not bother and their own steps are littered.
Are they all âriddled with diseaseâ? Nope. Some appear healthy and likely were neglected only a few years after new owners took over.
Also you misinterpreted. I did not say the program in Portland or Vancouver only picked what fell. They had a phone number in Oregon to call if you needed fruit harvested to donate.It is not at all a quality issueâŚit is an ignorance or apathy issue. One requires education, the other a heart transplant.
Well, Iâm with you there. Iâve done enough volunteer work to know that programs that embark with fanfare and best intentions sometimes founder on issues time and money, but, more often than not, theyâre quietly dropped after it becomes apparent they donât match any anticipated need. You have to pinpoint need first. Sure, thereâs an abundance of abandoned fruit, and surely thereâre folks who would appreciate access to it and know how to use it themselves. The trick is to find them and provide a clearinghouse matching them to sources of abandoned fruit, but both ends of that are rare in reality, and folks who operate food banks think their efforts are better repaid elsewhere. About the best you could do is attack ignorance and apathy by teaching kids where and when to forage (and where and when not to). ⌠just a thought. Maybe schools should hold summer classes.