Most consumers like their strawberries bright red and juicy through and through, but some seek fruit that is a little bit green, at least in the ecological sense. Fresno Bee food writer Joan Obra ran a front-page column in the paper's food section yesterday that makes it easier to find the local low-input strawberries.
To determine why strawberry stands are scarce in Fresno, Obra turned to UC Cooperative Extension small farm advisor Richard Molinar. He said Fresno County's strawberry acreage has dropped from about 500 to 100 acres in the past nine years. Only about 25 local strawberry farmers are left.
"The processors aren't paying a premium, and they're not buying as much from local farmers as they used to," Molinar was quoted in the story.
But if you can find them, eating Valley-grown strawberries will probably shave a few pounds off your carbon footprint. Molinar said Valley strawberry growers, because of the drier climate, use far less pesticides and fungicides than growers who produce the fruit on the coast. Coastal berries are sprayed at least half a dozen times. Fresno strawberries, on the other hand, "if they're even sprayed, they might only be sprayed once," Molinar was quoted in the story.