Every meal, recipe, and dish is a story. Each time you slice an apple, peel a Mandarin, or julienne a carrot, you are revealing the layers of intent, burden, passion, strife, and, ultimately, victory. What it takes for a fruit or vegetable to arrive on a plate, in a produce department, on a menu, in my daughter’s hand, or maybe one day, in my newly arrived son’s mouth, is no small feat.
I began to understand this more and more as I spoke with one of my retail friends on a recent trip up to Washington State. As the cool began to press its palm against the heat of the afternoon in Yakima, she leaned into our conversation with curiosity and shared with me a deep belief: The story behind our produce is the produce.
Her passion touched a nerve in me, both poetic and unsettling. My desire is that more people should know this. That this gift we all have to give dissipates before it reaches the recipients. This is why storytelling is so important, why storytelling among each other is so crucial, and why the tale that reaches the consumer is essential.
As I sit here writing this letter, I am more grateful than ever for the holiday season ahead of us. I am thankful for those growers, packers, and shippers who continually tell their stories of struggle and triumph, despite the odds. While the year’s freezes impact crop volumes, heat ravages plantings and future plans, costs drive heartbreaking decision-making, and regulations both protect and impede us, our fresh produce warriors never slow their journeys to deliver. Memorializing each victory in the crunch of a grape, the snap of a green bean, the heart of an artichoke.
Yes, I am sentimental and deeply moved by what each of you do. You had better believe it. More than a “despite the odds” situation, it is because of the odds that you all move the needle each day. Because feeding the world is worth it. Made even more substantial and empowering because if it were easy, everyone would do it.
And you are not everyone.
Not one beat of your heart is ordinary.
Nor is your story.
