The contrasting journey of commercial and local strawberries
Chocolate-covered strawberries are a favorite Valentine treat. But as I thought about them this past Valentine’s Day, I started to wonder—how do strawberries get to a grocery store in Memphis in February? So I looked into it and eventually found myself more committed than ever to buying local and in-season!
As strawberry season is upon us, I hope these contrasting journeys of a commercial strawberry and a locally grown one make you hold more tightly to your farmers market variety.
Driscoll’s:
Picked:
Driscoll’s harvests strawberries that have been specifically engineered with selective breeding to produce a plant that will grow out of season. All of their strawberries are grown in Mexico or California.
Inspected:
Employees and special machinery weed out any bruised or overripe fruit.
Packaged in plastic:
The strawberries are put into clamshells (plastic containers).
Cooled:
The strawberries are sent to a large cooler for up to 24 hours.
Stacked and wrapped:
The clamshells are stacked in crates and wrapped in plastic.
Drive #1:
Crates are loaded onto trucks with coolers built into the trailer, and they are on the road for a couple of days before reaching distribution centers in the Memphis region.
Distribution centers:
The strawberries are unloaded from the truck to giant refrigeration rooms, where they wait for the second round of driving.
Drive #2:
Truck drivers transport the berries to grocery stores in Memphis, and the produce department unloads them and puts them on shelves within 24 hours.
Purchased:
By the time a Driscoll’s strawberry reaches your mouth, it will have endured thousands of miles of travel over the span of four to six days.
Jones Orchard
Picked:
Jones Orchard grows Albion, Ruby June, Camarosa, and Sweet Charlie strawberries. Each variety has a different flavor profile and its own picking window, making Jones Orchard strawberries available from late April to early June. Strawberries are picked every morning by Jones Orchard employees trained in knowing when to harvest each variety of strawberry, so customers get the very best product. Customers can also pick their own. As soon as Memphis heat reaches the high 80s, strawberry plants stop producing fruit, and the peach and blackberry seasons follow.
Packaged:
Jones Orchard uses biodegradable containers made from recycled cardboard to hold their strawberries.
Drive #1:
Jones Orchard has two stands in Millington on the property where their strawberries are grown. It takes about a minute to drive the strawberries from the fields to the shelves for people to buy. Not a single strawberry is refrigerated. They also drive them to the Cooper-Young Community Farmers Market and Memphis Farmers Market on the weekends.
Purchased:
When customers buy strawberries from Jones Orchard, the fruit was likely picked just hours ago and may still be warm from the morning’s sunshine or wet from an overnight rain. Strawberries that aren’t sold are turned into strawberry preserves.
Gracie Driver is a full-time student at Southwest Tennessee Community College and local tutor for elementary English students. She has worked for La Baguette, Hustle & Dough, Amelia Gene’s, and Artesanal de Tela. She now focuses her knowledge and passion for food with freelance writing and baking services—and interning with Edible Memphis. @gracie.d.bakes
Erin Siao is a freelance illustrator specializing in portraits and local vignettes of place and taste. She works with local and national publications, brands, and individuals to capture stories in her unique style. She has a passion to understand neighborhood faces working to strengthen communities for the better. @erinsiaowork