Are "Pick Your Own" Farms Still Popular?
Fun Filled Concept
Pick your own farms used to be massive, and a great idea for a fun day out for all of the family. Especially during the summer months, when there would be a great feeling associated with wandering around a farm or an orchard picking your own fruit and vegetables to eat later. Part of the charm of these places was the sheer grandeur of them. The inspiration attached to gardening basics having been implemented and maintained over such a large scale was definitely something to behold.
For various reasons the popularity of pick your own farms tailed off somewhat towards the end of the 1990’s. A large part of this was down to the huge growth and market domination employed by the supermarkets. Despite the excellent work done turning gardening basics into a once thriving business, it simply was no longer cost effective to maintain such a large land space in light of shrinking customer numbers and general interest.
How The Supermarkets Muscled In
One of the biggest factors which put paid to pick your owns initially was the obsession with how produce looked. Supermarkets have conditioned consumers to choose the most aesthetically appealing products, even though everyone knows that a slightly ugly looking apple or banana can still give the same great, refreshing taste experience.
To this end, the novelty of picking your own fruit somewhat died down. Consumers would become increasingly frustrated at not being able to fill their bags with beautiful looking pieces of fruit, regardless that the taste would be much better given that it has been handpicked and probably grown organically.
Independents Fighting Back
As various television shows and news articles began to portray pick your owns, amongst farmers and other traders who are struggling, in a sympathetic light, these have begun to become more popular once again. It has to be said that these are simply not doing well just because people feel sorry for them. There is a wide body of opinion which is railing against the way supermarkets do business, as well as picking your own organic fruit and vegetables coming back into people’s routines once again.
Whether as a consequence of the recession or due to the behaviour of the supermarkets, people are once again flocking to pick your owns as they trust local produce and traders. In addition to this, they may even be inspired to take up a gardening basic of their own, perhaps even growing their own fruit in their garden.
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I have always been a big fan of pick your own and it was always a feature of my childhood. I have carried that on for my kids and I canot think of any activity that is more family friendly as well as teaching the kids that fruit and other produce does not only come from supermarket shelves. To see plants growing in their natural state and for a youngster to discover what the plant looks like and how the fruit grows on it. To see the fruit in different stages of its growth is a great education. And there is no doubt that fruit grown fresh that you can pick yourself tastes great, so fresh, brought straight from the plant to the pudding plate. We do not have a big garden so although we do grow a few strawberries that is about all we can cope with. Pick your own is still a big part of our family summer – if it will ever stop raining!
I agree with Sarah. There was an article the other week in our local paper saying how disadvantaged children in my home town, which is near the sea, have never been to the beach. They probably don’t know where milk comes from either, like inner city children who were evacuated during the second world war. Poor little things. It’d be great to take them all on a PYO trip and teach them where food comes from. We don’t call foods by their real names these days, either. We don’t eat cows, we eat beef and steak and mince. We don’t eat pigs, just pork and bacon. We don’t eat sheep, but we scoff down lamb like nobody’s business. I think it’s really important for kids to know about food, the natural world around them and everything in it. PS. We had to pick our own in the war, we would have starved otherwise.