Fruits of urban farming

The discussion of urban farms, once called “victory gardens,” is really getting serious. Janice Swagerty, in her March 22 letter, “Urban farms a plus,” rhapsodizes about the flavor of fresh, home-grown meat and eggs. She must not be much of a consumer of plant-based foods because it is there, in the flavor of vine-ripened, tree-ripened, fruits and veggies, matured on the plant, that we will discover what real food tastes like.

I would like to warn everybody, however, that once you have tasted a tree-ripened peach, it may be years before you can tolerate the supermarket product that they call a peach. It has been bred to be tough, to withstand the stress of shipping. It is slow to ripen – if it ever does – and it has been picked green anyway to prolong the shipping time.

It has been bred to look beautiful (with the aid of pesticides), but the only person whose needs are being met is the grower; to make a profit by selling a long-lasting fruit in mass markets like our supermarkets. My need for a delicious, nutritious peach are ignored.

And this pattern is being followed wherever growth habits allow.

Ann Echegoyen

Spokane