Katie Kaboom

It happened again yesterday as it does quite often. Chris and I were getting food to make dinner when I promptly said said:

Me: STOP! I need to tell you about these papayas!

Him: Okayyyy (has a look on his face that says he’s hungry and wants to expedite the my soap-box process)

Me: IT’S AMAZING! The Hawaiian Islands are infiltrated with all kinds of GMO-material - in the case of papayas the reason for all the GMO contamination is because the fruit is SUPER susceptible to ring spot virus! So they have to genetically modify it in order to grow enough to be profitable and ship it to the mainland.

Him: So if GMO material drift is so populous how does these get certified organic? (I suspect he’s given in to humoring me- smart move!)

Me: Oh let me tell you… so they are grown on Molokai, which because ot it’s geographical location is much more arid then the other islands giving the farmer the opportunity to grow totally sustainably and organically. The entire island is GMO free and a haven for organic farming!

Him: NEAT! (picking up a papaya to put in the cart thinking that that might stop me on my diatribe).

Me: AND…. he goes through this incredible processing process that involves no chemical use, only high heat and wind in these big closed containers to raise the heat and kill any fruit fly larvae that could potentially be in the fruit! That clears it for export into mainland U.S! He spent so much time figuring this out! It’s so cool!

Him: WOAH! Why don’t they have a sign that says all of this? (grabbing another papaya for good measure)

Me (somewhat dejected): Yah. I know. (At this point I’m eyeing all the people around me debating if I want to tell the whole story again but way LOUDER).

Moral of the story:

1. Retail outfits are making some great decisions on providing sustainable, organic fruits and vegetables but often doing a bad job at telling the backstory to consumers (d’oh!).

2. If you’re hungry and wanting to get in and out of the grocery store fast, make me wait in the car or stay outside with the bikes.

This entry was posted on Friday, July 3rd, 2009 and is filed under Dietribes..., Food, Sustainable Ag, sustainability. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.