Topic: Atkins Fruit Farm

Rubber-stamped travel: Corporate cloning of America’s landscape

By Christine Anne Piesyk | June 26, 2008 |

On the Road in America is an occasional and serendipitous column about people, places and observations, with publishing predicated on the random availability of internet access or lack thereof.

Being On the Road in America can sometimes be a bore.

Oh, there’s a great deal of beauty to be seen, from the Green Mountains of Vermont to the rolling farmlands across Ohio, from the rugged Rockies and the dramatic coastline of California’s 17-mile drive. That’s not the issue.

As implied in Josh Neuman’s Lemmings (right) ,what is troubling is the growing lack of identity, of uniqueness, of individuality, as one moves from state to state. North, south, east or west makes not a whit of difference. Commerce in America is cloning itself at breakneck pace, mass-producing blueprints for hotels, motels, box stores, shopping malls and restaurants that increasingly lack a sense of their own identity and certainly have no ties to community heritage or culture.

I’m on the road again, as Willie Nelson would sing, and I am heading for one of the few bastions of non-traditional development — via the central midwest to the rural northeast, home of green mountains, clothing optional backwoods beaches, interstate bike paths, and those perpetual golden arches relegated to the outermost borders of some cities. «Read the rest of this article»

Sections: Arts and Leisure, Business, Issues, Opinion | No Comments

Roadside Marketplace: Fruit shops, ‘pick-your-own’ apple orchards

By Christine Anne Piesyk | October 21, 2007 |

One of the highlights of the northeast that is my home and heritage are the markets. So whenever I am On the Road in America and that road is in the northeast, I invariably make at least one stop in favored places. I have my northeastern favorites, along with shoppers cards from three states, and they are far removed from Walmart’s molded plastic packaging and asparagus left to dry out on its side on a shelf. Yes, I am thinking of the specialty markets, fueled by local produce and seasonal supply. And the anticipation that carries through the winter season in between.

From early May through October, roadside stands are a dime a dozen, lining highways inside the city limits and just beyond, places where home gardeners and small farmers offer seedlings in spring, the first fruits of summer (strawberries in June), mouth-watering springtime asparagus of the pick-your-own category or buy it bundled (always, always store it standing in water, and don’t buy it if it isn’t), fresh butter and sugar corn from mid-July on, peppers, cucumbers, zucchini, yellow squash, Brussel sprouts…

 Veggies, fruits, and all things fresh and pure…

But there are market stores as well, stores that run year round, import the best and the freshest when nature buries New England farms in snow and ice. Here one wanders through with little brown recyclable bags, scooping up these delights on a day-to-day basis.

And then there are the apples … «Read the rest of this article»

Sections: Arts and Leisure, Issues | No Comments