1982

Like many of the fruits in season here in France right now, the strawberries here are very small compared to what we typically see in the states. Although they are in season, France has experienced unnaturally cold weather this spring, which has really affected the size and quality of the fruits and vegetables. Strawberries require a lot of sun, but since there hasn't been much sun in France, they are much smaller this year than what they normally are. This is interesting and important to think about, because it makes us question the crops we have back home and wonder how they are still so big even when there are years where we have had the same weather France has been experiencing. Here in France, all crops totally rely on how the weather and environment treats them, because the French value organically grown and chemical free crops, unlike back in the states where if we have a bad spring season full of dark clouds and rain, we typically will inject chemicals into fruits and vegetables to help their growth. While these chemicals make our strawberries big and juicy all year round, it isn't the way nature would have made them. I appreciate that the French stick with mother nature and the refrigerator as their only preservatives. I'd rather have these small fresh strawberries over massive chemically grown strawberries any day. - Jessie Banks