When American Greetings introduced the rag-doll style character Strawberry Shortcake in 1980, she generated $500 million in sales for the company over the next two years, according to the company's Web site.
If that character hadn't been introduced at that time, and someone had the idea of creating a similar character today, I don't think the marketing people would approve.
Why, you ask? Because strawberries aren't cute anymore. Commercial strawberries that you get in the grocery store look more like goblin noses or deformed animal hooves. I can hardly look at them.
Some googling of how these monstrous strawberries came to be is revealed in an informative piece in The Boston Globe from 2006, where members of the California Strawberry Commission said they've gotten bigger because they've been bred to be bigger, because that's what people supposedly want.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture also pointed out that with bigger berries, a smaller amount can fill a pint, meaning fewer individual berries need to be picked, saving labor time.
They say larger strawberries don't taste different, but I wonder. Often varieties of produce bred to suit the producer - easier to pick, better for withstanding travel, etc. - lose their taste genes.
So what can we do? Support local berries. Apparently 88 percent of berries sold in America come from the West Coast. But handfuls of orchards and family farms still grow their own strawberries, and they're worth seeking out.
Strawberry festivals should be popping up at local churches during the next few weeks. Check them out, and ask where the strawberries came from. See if you can taste the difference.
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