Silence of the strawberries: Canadian berry farms under threat

Just as vibrant green fiddleheads and asparagus say spring has sprung, nothing says summer like sweet, soft, local strawberries. A family trip to a pick-your-own farm - where strawberry-stained mouths tuck away as many as go in the basket - is as much a celebration of summer as decking the halls for the holidays.

Strawberry sins
We’ve all heard it by now: The average meal travels 1500 miles from producer to plate according to Alisa Smith and J. B. MacKinnon, co-authors of the 100-Mile Diet, a Year of Local Eating (Random House Canada, 2007).

Here’s something else we’ve all heard, the alarming crunch of a California strawberry in January! They’re oversized, white-on-the-inside, flavourless, hard, and trucked in on a wave of fossil fuels. Now that’s hard to swallow.

Canadian strawberries under threat
Canada is home to some of the best berry-growing conditions on earth, not to mention our farmers are tops for environmental responsibility. But how are local Canadian strawberry growers doing these days anyway?

Not too good. Coupled with a short growing season - lasting roughly one month - the farmer has only a small window of a couple of days to harvest the ripe fruit and get it to market before the delicate strawberry flesh turns to mush.

On the other hand, California’s climate allows for year ‘round growing, and it’s not just the berries that are growing.

Every year, the California strawberry industry expands too. It now produces about 1 billion kilograms of berries per year. According to Kevin Schooley of the Ontario Berry Growers Association, the average strawberry patch in Southern Ontario is four hectares, while in California they can span up to 20.

And they out-yield us too: 34,000 kilos to 2,000 kilos per hectare. It’s a David and Goliath story to be sure. But like David and his slingshot, consumers can pack a powerful wallop. Local produce is the best.  Seek it out, demand it, and savour it.

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