Richard Layman is no fun re: designating an official fruit of Washington

This pie was made with edible cherries.

The H-DC list had a message about the effort of elementary students in the District of Columbia seeking to have the cherry designated as the official fruit of the city. (See "Council Mulls the Cherry as District's Official Fruit.")

Because I am no fun in that I think every moment should be a "teachable moment," I think this is a mistake. Ornamental fruit trees like the Sakura cherry tree prevalent in DC don't produce edible fruit, and the "George Washington chopping down a cherry tree and not lying about it" story, while an excellent example for all of us in Washington, particularly those caught up in the Abramoff scandal, is sadly irrelevant to DC history.

Being from Michigan, and having vacationed in the Traverse City area, where you can buy, in season, not only cherries but "cherry cider" made from cherries harvested in the area, I know what an edible cherry is--and it doesn't depend on what your definition of is is...

Here is what I wrote on H-DC:

You can't eat the cherries that are on the Japanese cherry tree can you? Why not a fruit that can actually grow in the city? And how about a campaign that plants and cultivates around the city the fruit that is designated.

"Ornamental" cherry tree in the rear of the 1000 block of 3rd Street NE, Washington, DC. Photo by Elise Bernard.

Pretty blossoms. (Flickr photo.)

How about a lesson in agriculture? Clearly the children who want to make the cherry the official fruit of the city are disconnected from agriculture and an understanding about the food "system," and how crops are grown and harvested.

In relation to the general thrust of the H-DC list, as many of us know, into the 1870s and 1880s a goodly portion of the city was farmed or "gardened" and agriculture professions are noted on various Census enumeration sheets even past 1900.

At a conference I attended on Wednesday, one of the presenters mentioned in an aside that in one European city, apple trees are grown in some of the public spaces, and citizens are encouraged to pick the fruit when it is ripe (I guess they clean up fallen apples as well).

If it is true that we must become concerned about food cultivation as oil becomes an increasingly depleted resource (the "peak oil" discussion) we will have to grow food in cities. We might as well start now.

For resources in this area, consider the American Community Gardening Association, City Farmer and the Toronto Food Policy Council.

2003 Queen Ashley Prusick and a Country Fresh Cherry Ice Cream Sundae at the National Cherry Festival, Traverse City, Michigan.
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Yes, it's cute that the elementary kids want to be involved and influence policy. But let the lesson be meaningful and the impact significant.
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Lyric from "No Fun" by Iggy and the Stooges

No fun my babe no fun
No fun my babe no fun
No fun to hang around
Feeling that same old way
No fun to hang around
Freaked out, for another day
No fun my babe no fun
No fun my babe no fun
No fun to be around
Walking by myself
No fun to be alone
In love, with nobody else
Well maybe go out maybe stay home
Maybe call baby on the telephone
Well come on, well come on,Well come on..........

Index Keywords: civic-engagement; education