Saturday, February 2, 2008

Current Currants

Finished off the last of the cherries today - looking out at the frozen grey blocks of downtown Edmonton. They weren't as flavourful as the ones we picked off Bev's tree summer before last - these had made the long trek from another country, and I suspect they ripened along the way.

Bev lives in New Westminster, BC. Her cherries grow on a mature tree which shades much of her backyard. On a sunny day, those fruits shine and twinkle. I don't know why this took me by surprise - in the back of my mind I think I attributed the shine on grocery store cherries to some kind of micro-coating or waxing or...but, no, that amazing gleam was put there by the creator.

Of course even Bev doesn't get cherries in late January. These were from Chile. When I was in the store today, I found that a lot of the fruits were from Chile at this time of year. So I just did a quick online search to see what fruits might be native to Chile.

I found a report that showed there were 15 varieties of currant considered native to Chile - "native" in this case meaning they can be traced back as far as the 19th century. Of those 15 varieties, guess how many are cultivated, according to the report?

None.

Either that means Chileans aren't terribly interested in currants, or it means that Chilean fruit growers are focussing on the non-native species to sell to the international market. And why not? How many species native to Canada form the backbone of our produce exports? Many of our plants were brought here. (Oh, yes, we have Saskatoons - nasty gritty berries with more reputation than flavour, in my estimation.)

I can't allow myself to get obsessive about native plants and biodiversity. I'm too excited by the thought of the frangipani growing on my windowsill, the holly in my garden, my tender roses (no doubt completely ruined by the extended cold snap we've been having).

So why do I worry about the agricultural exports of Chile? Why can't I just eat the cherries and be thankful they don't have to go by a slow boat, or that my only option in the winter is preserves?