Tip of the mouse to friend and fellow blogger, Julie B, who passed on a link to the Fallen Fruit group. Apparently these folks did not read Genesis and had not learned the lesson about picking forbidden fruit. They believe that any fruit reachable from a sidewalk, alley, etc. is grown there for the sharing. They write on one "nocturnal fruit forage":We meet a lot of residents when we stop in front of their houses with flashlights,shopping carts, bags and fruit pickers. They are usually happy to see us and offer to let us pick more fruit inside their properties. Its rare, at least in LA, to find people who actually use much or even any of the fruit growing on their properties. The mission of FallenFruit is to change that.
Note that "usually happy" point. Can we hear about those that are not so happy? Now this may be an East Coast vs West Coast thing, but I'm thinking that around here that practice may get you a beat down or arrested. If you have a fruit tree in your yard and some branches overhang into a public right-of-way, how do you feel about this? It'd be one thing if they scouted out trees, contacted the owners, and got permission in advance to glean from them. It is an entirely other thing to be coming up to homes at night, declaring the fruit "public," and essentially stealing it. I fully appreciate the attempt to eliminate so much waste, but is this the best way to go about it?
As a practice, it's kind of reminiscent of the medieval practice of gleaning. Which I've heard still happens in parts of France.
ReplyDeleteHard to know if that shiny apple is on a tree that belongs to somebody with a medieval sense of noblesse oblige, or somebody with a shotgun who doesn't like apple thieves.
Julie B.
I use my fruit! i would be seriously miffed if someone came and took them!
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