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The
Answer is Local
Avocados:
One of Ojai’s Favorites
The
Thacher Legacy: An Edilbe Ojai Farmer Profile on Tony Thacher
THE
ANSWER IS LOCAL
By Steve
Fields
My fondest
memories from my travels seem to revolve around food. Not
just three-star restaurant food, although there has been plenty
of that, but real food made by real people from real ingredients.
One
example: we were staying in a wonderful old family-run hotel
beautifully situated on Lake Annecy at the edge of the French
Alps. The patrons knew we were adventurous diners, so they
suggested that we try lunch at La Ferme ("the farm"),
which was about an hour drive up into the Alps.
It
was a cool spring day, but the sun was out and the sky was
bright blue. We somehow found our way up into a spectacular
valley and kept driving along this little road, looking for
something that resembled a restaurant. We got to the address
and discovered that indeed we were going to La Ferme, a large
farm house. We were seated on the porch, luckily in the sun,
with a breathtaking view of the steep, snow-covered mountains
on the opposite side of the valley. Huge alpine dairy cattle
wandered the fields munching on the new spring grass while
chickens ran under the porch. We then began a magical experience–we
got to eat a meal that they made from the ingredients of their
farm in the manner that they have been doing for hundreds
of years. It fit, it flowed, it worked.
At
the end of the meal, the proprietor came over to us to discuss
the cheese course, which is considered the most important
part of any French meal, even in the rural hinterlands. He
hemmed and hawed a bit, and finally asked if we spoke French
because he had something he had to discuss with us. My partner
said he spoke French, so we got an explanation. He said that
his neighbor had made the cheese (the traditional local variety
called Reblochon de Savoie) as usual, but while it was wonderful,
it was somewhat misshapened. We, of course, said bring it
on. It was ethereal. The oddly-shaped round burst with the
taste of the grass, the mountain water, the air, the earth.
It
was an awakening. This cheese could not have been sold in
a market because it was not "perfect" in appearance.
But being perfect in appearance really had no bearing on its
taste, its freshness, or its nutritional value. We were able
to enjoy it because we were there, connecting with the people
who made these gifts from the earth.
We
have had these types of experiences all over the world. And,
luckily we are beginning to create similar opportunities in
Ojai with people growing and producing pure and healthy products
from their hearts.
But
we are just starting to develop these traditions. And for
the health of our community, we must dedicate ourselves to
making a commitment to eat locally-produced food.
There
are a great many reasons why eating only locally-produced
foods in season make sense. The food is at its freshest, most
nutritious, and most flavorful. We save energy by not having
to transport and store it. But, I think there is one special
quality that we may overlook–the aspect of reconnecting
the producer with the consumer.
With
the advent of industrialization and, especially, industrial
agriculture, we have lost the connection between grower and
eater. And that separation has had drastic ramifications in
what, and how, we eat.
First,
it has changed the way people shop for food. The criteria
used in the selection of food now, are: its physical appearance,
price and the marketing associated with it. When you have
a direct connection, the farmer knows that they must provide
a top-quality experience so that the consumer will come back.
The farmer also has his connection to the consumer. When he
knows the people by name who are going to be eating his produce,
he is going to put his love and care into what he is growing.
He is not going to cheat them or try to fool them. It wouldn’t
work, anyway.
This
breakdown in the farmer/consumer connection has led to a whole
raft of problems in our current agricultural economy. Take
apples for example. Over the last 30 or so years, apple trees
have been bred to produce apples that look beautiful, can
be stored for months, and can withstand being shipped thousands
of miles. There is only one problem–they taste horrible.
The growers thought they were so smart because they were able
to sell apples all year long and had developed a worldwide
market (let us not focus at this point on all of the enormous
costs of storage and transportation). However, you can only
fool the consumer so long. In recent years, apple sales have
plummeted to such an extent that the federal government had
to bail out the apple growers in the Pacific Northwest with
an aid package of over $750 million. Our tax dollars are now
going to help growers produce a product that we don’t
even want.
This
situation has been mirrored in almost every other type of
produce or food product. Enormous waste, inferior quality,
and unneeded processing.
Since
World War II, our government in a wide variety of ways has
subsidized the growth of industrial agriculture and as a result
severed the relationship between farmer and consumer. We need
to find new ways to create structures and incentives that
will rebuild that precious relationship.
One
example of how a community can connect with a local farm is
in Goleta, California. Fairview Gardens had been a working
10-acre farm for years when, nearly overnight, this area went
from a sleepy agricultural community to a booming suburb of
Santa Barbara. With a set of new suburban homeowners in place,
conflict soon arose between the farm and its neighbors. But
through the work of Michael Abelman and others who worked
the farm, it was saved from becoming the next tract house
development. It is now run as a non-profit organization that
offers tours and educational programs in addition to selling
its harvest at its popular roadside stand and at local farmers’
markets.
Think
about this idea in reverse. What would happen if every new
subdivision was required to put aside land for a local farm?
Developers already provide land for schools and parks, so
why not a farm? These local community farms could provide
food for the residents, provide work and educational opportunities
for kids, and create a connection and meeting place for the
people of the community. People would have better, fresher
food. Fossil fuels would be saved because food wouldn’t
have to be shipped in from all around the country.
There
are many ways that we as a society can encourage this re-connection.
Think about it every time you make a decision about where
you shop and what you buy. Think about where the product came
from, what it took to get it here, how the people who made
it were treated and in turn how they treated the product.
And
then dedicate yourself to building a better community, and
by doing that you’ll be stronger and healthier, too.
AVOCADOS:
ONE OF OJAI'S FAVORITES
By Steve
Fields
It is
said that when the Spanish conquistadors arrived in Mexico,
one of their first discoveries was the avocado. One historian
in 1526 even wrote the first directions for Europeans for
eating this unusual fruit. "In the center of the fruit,"
he wrote, "is a seed like a peeled chestnut. And between
this and the rind is the part which is eaten, which is abundant,
and is a paste similar to butter and of very good taste."
In
the ensuing nearly 500 years, avocados have made their way
into menus around the world. Mexico is by far the world’s
leading producer of avocados, growing more than the combined
totals of the next seven producers in the world.
In
the U.S., 95% of the avocados grown are from California. In
Ventura County, they are one of the leading agricultural crops
and possibly the one generating the most profit for their
growers. In Ojai, many people have avocado trees in their
backyards. For those who don’t, during the season, all
you have to do is drive down rural streets to find road side
stands operated on the honor system offering avocados.
There
are more than a thousand types of avocados. In the past this
created a lot of consumer confusion, especially relating to
how to determine when the fruit was ripe and ready to eat.
In recent years, this problem has waned as the market became
dominated by the Hass (rhymes with "pass") variety
with its predictable pattern of turning from green to black
to signify its ripeness. But the path to the Hass dominance
has not been straightforward.
Avocados
had already been domesticated by the Aztecs and Incas and
other native people in Central and South America long before
the Spanish arrived. The Aztecs called the fruit ahuacatl,
meaning both "fruit of the avocado tree" and "testicle"
(the assumption is the fruit was named after testicles because
of their shape, although avocados also have a long history
of being considered an aphrodisiac. They were even banned
from mission gardens). The word ahuacatl was compounded with
others, as in ahuacamolli, meaning "avocado soup or sauce,"
from which the word guacamole derives.
In
trying to pronounce ahuacatl, the Spanish who found the fruit
came up with aguacate, while other Spanish speakers adopted
the name avocado because ahuacatl sounded like the early Spanish
word for lawyer, avocado (now abogado). The French still maintain
the connection with the "law" with their name avocat.
Avocados
have a one-of-a-kind flowering and pollination process. Each
tree produces tens of thousands of blossoms during the spring
and each of these blossoms perform both male and female functions,
but at different times. For Hass and other varieties (known
as type A), the blossom opens in the morning of the first
day for several hours as a female ready to receive pollen
to enable fertilization. Then the blossoms close and reopen
the following day in the afternoon for several hours as a
male ready to provide the pollen for fertilization. Bacons,
Fuertes and other varieties (known as type B) have flowers
that open the first day in the afternoon as a female and the
following morning as a male. Having at least a few of both
types in your orchard insures maximum fertilization.
While
avocado trees had made their first appearance in California
by mid-1800, it wasn’t until more than a decade into
the 20th Century that the U.S. avocado industry was born.
A man named Carl Schmidt is credited with traveling to Puebla,
Mexico, and bringing back budwood from the best trees to a
nursery in Altadena. One of these, which became known as the
Fuerte (meaning "strong" in Spanish after it survived
a severe frost in 1913), became the industry standard for
years.
The
Hass variety was created (or really discovered) by chance.
In the late 1920’s, Mr. Rudolph Hass, who was a postman,
purchased seedling trees from A. R. Rideout of Whittier. Hass’
children brought the tree to his attention. They thought the
fruit tasted better than those of the other trees. Since the
quality was high and the tree bore well, Hass patented it
in 1935. He ultimately entered into an agreement with Whittier
nurseryman H. H. Brokaw to grow and promote the new variety
and received 25% of the gross income from tree sales.
The
Hass fruit did not instantly take over the market because
it differed so dramatically from the Fuerte. But the Hass
variety has several distinct advantages. Its trees produce
more fruit. The fruit’s pebbly skin turns from green
to black when ripe, enabling consumers to know more easily
when the fruit is ready to eat. And generally, people thought
they taste better.
But
while 90% of California’s commercial crop is now Hass,
there are some tendencies of the variety that researchers
are trying to improve upon, including their tendency to be
alternate bearing (alternating year to year between heavy
and relatively small crops), a drop in the size of the fruit
as the tree ages, intolerance to extreme temperatures, and
their limited season (from about February to June or July).
In
Ojai, we have the opportunity to sample a variety of types
of avocados through a good portion of the year at the Farmers’
Market or by buying from local growers. Some varieties to
look for include Reed (large oval-shaped fruit available during
the summer and early fall), Pinkerton (a long-necked variety
available in February and March), Bacon (an early season variety
maturing from December to March that is frost tolerant and
best known as a good pollinator for other varieties), and
of course the Fuerte (also an early season variety). Other
varieties you might find are Zutano, Mexicola Grande, Nabal,
and Lamb Hass.
If
you come across a type you are not familiar with or want to
know what is in your backyard, you can find descriptions of
over 100 varieties at the UC Riverside Avocado Information
website at www.ucavo.ucr.edu.
Avocados
do not ripen until picked, so fresh ones will be as hard as
rocks. If they are picked too early, they will turn rubbery
or spongy instead of soft and creamy. As a result, standards
and tests have been developed to determine when to start harvesting
the different varieties.
When
selecting avocados, look for those with an even unblemished
texture, uniformly hard or soft over its entire surface and
those that feel heavy for their size. Avoid any with bruises
or soft spots and those with a hollow between the flesh and
skin.
While
the Hass avocados turn from green to black when ready to eat,
most other varieties will stay green. You can tell when those
varieties are ripe when the flesh of the fruit will yield
when
pressed
gently. However, ripe fruits bruise easily with excessive
handling so be careful. In order to enjoy avocados, give yourself
7-10 days in advance to insure they are ripe for your use.
You can hasten the ripening process by putting the avocados
in a paper bag. Adding a banana or apple to the bag speeds
up the process even more.
Many
people shy away from avocados because they are perceived to
be high in fat. And while that may have some merit, proponents
of avocados point out that the fat found in avocados is monounsaturated
fat, which some studies suggest may actually reduce cholesterol.
In addition, avocados are great sources of vitamins (especially
E and C) and minerals. Ounce for ounce, it packs a nutritional
punch.
Avocados
also are used as dry skin treatments. Spas routinely mix the
pulp and other ingredients into masks and lotions. And then
there are the stories about the aphrodisiac qualities of the
fruit. Try it yourself, and then report back to us.
THE
THACHER LEGACY:
An Edilbe Ojai Farmer Profile on Tony Thacher
By Tracey
Ryder
On a
warm January day I trekked out to the Friend’s packing
house to meet up with Tony Thacher and his daughter, Emily,
who were working at loading crates of tangerines and other
fruits for the farmers’ markets they travel to each week.
From there we went into the grove where Anne, Tony’s
wife, joined us and presented me with a recipe for a tangerine
tart that I’m looking forward to trying.
We
were not long into our conversation when I realized that Jim
Churchill wasn’t kidding when he said: "Tony Thacher
is Ojai royalty." Although Tony’s buttoned down
collar shirt, embroidered with both the Rotary logo and a
tangerine didn’t conjure up visions of the purple robed-type
royalty, he does have a presence about him. And if you’re
wondering about any relationship between the name Thacher
and the school, it’s one and the same. Tony’s grandfather,
Sherman Thacher, founded the school and his father, Anson
Thacher was both headmaster and teacher, so Tony not only
attended the school, he spent his childhood growing up there.
The Thacher women I met that day have presence too. Emily
had recently returned home after receiving a graduate degree
in Insect Management from U.C. Davis’ Agriculture Department
and Anne Thacher, (nee Friend), was born to Ojai citrus growing–her
great grandparents and grandparents homesteaded here. In fact,
the original family homestead was on the East End property
where the Friends stables are today. The only member of the
family who I didn’t get to meet is Emily’s brother,
George, who works in the vegetable seed industry.
I
asked Tony how he came to be an Ojai citrus grower and he
replied: "The flood of 1969 came through here and wiped
out much of the grove and land we’re standing on now.
Anne and I were in Berkeley then but came back to help the
family recover from it, and then decided to stay." Since
then, Tony has become a kind of wisdom keeper for citrus,
with a particular interest in tangerines–Satsumas, Lees,
Dancies, Keeshus and others, including the Pixie, which has
become such an important Ojai fruit that it has its own growers
association. It’s no surprise that Tony Thacher was one
of the four founding members of this group (along with Jim
Churchill, Bob Davis and Mike Shore), and that their membership
is now close to twenty strong.*
Thacher
grows other fruits too: Navel and Valencia oranges, avocados,
and lemons. In addition to selling the actual fruit, he also
has orange juice, lemonade and citrus punch available at the
four farmer’s markets he travels to each week (Ojai,
Gardena, Hollywood, and the Wednesday Santa Monica market).
But selling directly is not the only way Thacher citrus makes
it to the market place–they also sell the oranges wholesale.
Regarding
the farmers’ markets and the opportunity of selling direct
to the consumer, Thacher tells me that: "Seedless is
big. People consider fruit a convenience food and that’s
why many of the new varieties being developed, like the Shastas
and Yosemites are seedless."
In
terms of what the most favorable conditions for growing tangerines
are, he remarks, "warmer is better." He also mentions
that he is not considered an organic grower because although
he does not use chemical pesticides, he does use a fertilizer.
Just then, he holds his hands and fingers out to diagram for
me what the root system of a citrus tree looks like, and says,
"the tree requires nitrogen. It cannot tell whether that
nitrogen comes from mulch or fertilizer, nor does it makes
any difference when you eat the fruit, since the tree metabolizes
it as nitrogen."
At
the end of our meeting I was left feeling exhilarated by what
I had learned and by the graciousness of this family. My fingers
were sticky from eating the warm fruit right off the tree
and with my last glance over this abundant 75-acre microcosm,
I felt how lucky we are that, with Emily’s presence in
the grove, next generation of Thacher citrus is firmly in
place
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