Ripe for the Telling: Surprising Stories of Washington Fruit

What is the messy and juicy history of Washington’s produce industry? Who was Cashmere’s Cider King? From apples to oranges, huckleberries to durian, anthropologist Julia Harrison will cover how these perishable products preserve historic events and reflect our changing relationship to the natural world. This discussion includes a large cast of characters: pioneers, entrepreneurs, orchardists, labor activists, a horticultural prodigy and Cashmere’s own “Cider King.” Full of suspense, tragedy, triumph, heroism, and even some romance, this presentation will reveal some of our state’s juiciest stories. Beyond providing nutrition and injecting billions of dollars into Washington state’s economy, fruit connects us to the past, to the environment, and to people we may never meet.

This program is sponsored by Humanities Washington.