Strawberry Facts
Around The World With Strawberries
If all the strawberries produced in California this year were laid berry to berry, they'd wrap around the world 15 times. That's enough strawberries to provide every U.S. household with 12 pint baskets!
Better Start Eating Strawberries
Respondents to a recent national survey labeled strawberry lovers as "health conscious, fun loving, intelligent and happy." Non-strawberry lovers, on the other hand, were described as "weird, boring, stuffy--picky, fussy eaters who avoid healthy foods."
Hand-Picked and Packed
All strawberries are picked, sorted and packed by hand in the field. The trays of strawberries are then rushed to shipping facilities where they are cooled-down to about 34 degrees Fahrenheit. (A tray normally contains 12 one-pint baskets.) Within 24 hours of harvest, the strawberries are loaded on refrigerated trucks for delivery to local supermarkets across the country. This unique distribution system ensures that this delicate fruit reaches consumers in fresh-from-the-field condition.
Strawberry Lore and Legend
In provincial France, strawberries were regarded as an aphrodisiac of the highest quality. Newlyweds traditionally were served a soup of thinned sour cream, strawberries, borage (a European herb whose flavor is reminiscent of cucumber) and powdered sugar.
The second wife of Henry VIII, Queen Anne Boleyn (1507-36), had a strawberry-shaped birthmark on her neck. Unfortunately, some claimed this fact proved she was a witch.
The strawberry is recognized as representing absolute perfection in the Victorian language of flowers.
Medieval stonemasons carved strawberry designs on altars and around the tops of pillars in churches and cathedrals, symbolizing perfection and righteousness. During the same time period, strawberries were served at important state occasions and festivals to ensure peace and prosperity.
Ever eaten a double strawberry? Legend holds that if you break it in half and share it with a member of the opposite sex, you will soon fall in love with each other.
Strawberries in Literature
Sacred to the both Goddess of Love and the Virgin Mary, strawberries boast a long, dramatic history.
"Doubtless God could have made a better berry, but doubtless God never did." --William Butler
"The strawberry grows underneath the Nettle, And wholesome berries thrive and ripen best Neighbour'd by fruit of lesser quality." -- William Shakespeare, Henry V
"My lord of Ely, when I was last in Holborn, I saw good strawberries in your garden there."
-- William Shakespeare, Richard III
When as the rye reach to the chin,
And chopcherry, chopcherry ripe within,
Strawberries swimming in the cream,
And schoolboys playing in the stream,
Then O, then O , then O, my true love said,
Till that time come again,
She could not live a maid.
-- George Peele, The Old Wives Tale
