![]() “We’re going to need to keep that stuff alive so it’s there if we need it.” “If we come to our senses and realize that planting 200m acres of corn with tillage is not a good idea from an ecology perspective, we’re going to need the best germplasm in existence,” said Ferver, who described himself as a “rabid” fruit explorer. These explorers want to replace that system with one of permaculture, which involves planting perennial fruit and nut trees instead. ![]() Many fruit explorers reject the US’s current reliance on monocultural, seasonal agriculture, which means planting massive amounts of animal feed like soy and alfalfa in vast, deforested fields. Then, there are the environmental reasons. One example: “The limbertwig apples of the south, which have a wild winey flavor that once you’ve tasted it will haunt you.” “People realize that they once had great things that reflected the taste of their place and that were marginalized by market forces,” Shields said. David Shields, an heirloom foods expert at the University of South Carolina, explained that our food system homogenized after the second world war and that many fruit explorers want to preserve old regional flavors before it’s too late. Photograph: New York Public Libraryīuzz Ferver, a nursery owner and fruit explorer in northern Vermont, estimates that thousands of such explorers operate in the US, with about 20 in a “core group” who will drop anything to go anywhere and search for a fabled plant.įor some, it’s about history: learning about a majestic tree in the historical record and trekking off to the woods to find it. A 1751 botanical illustration of a mulberry tree.
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