Today Anne-Marie and I went to the grocery store to buy some ingredients for things she’ll be preparing for Kick Off to Kindergarten this Saturday. We at the Edible Schoolyard will be featuring tasty, simple, packable lunches. So there we are with our organic yogurt, unbleached flour, and some cheese for sandwiches and we decide to see what is available on the cookie and cracker aisle. We were blown away to find that a certain nameless brand of cookie come in 25 variations of flavor, filling, twice as much filling, and even in stick form. And those don’t even include the special holiday versions that will come out later this fall. How can a simple “dessert” or snack like an apple compete? No one is earning a six figure income marketing the over 100 varieties of apples that used to grow in North Carolina on small family farms and in backyards like my grandmother’s. So, I decided to come back to the Museum and spend some time with the lovely heritage variety apple trees from Century Farm Orchards in Reidsville that we planted this spring. Within five years we’ll be able to offer visitors several flavors of apples, even without millions of dollars spent on marketing. Real taste sells itself.
–Eleanor, Lead Garden Educator
