Open Thread

Benson, an heirloom breed or varietal is one that was around a while ago. In the 20th century there was a lot of breeding for size over flavor, so for example there are huge strawberries that taste kind of like water. Another example is pigs being bred for leanness back when lean pork was in vogue, with the result that the meat was much less flavorful.

You get a lot less yield from heirlooms than highly engineered modern breeds / varietals, but the trade-off is that heirlooms are typically more flavorful. They’re also more expensive because they have a lower yield. It’s got lots of snob appeal.

Compare and contrast:

1. Woman grabs organic milk, goes to the counter, pays for it, takes it home, feeds it to her kids, doesn’t say anything about it to anyone.

2. Woman loudly comments, so that passers-by can hear her, that she is looking for an organic Christmas tree and organic Vermont maple syrup, and tells everyone who will listen to her all about her LEED certified condo.

I could fill an entire blue book on this but let me summarize. In situation 1, it’s probably a very healthy family situation. The husband and wife have a relatively normal sex life and the children grow up fine. In situation 2, the wife is probably also blogging about cheating on her husband, the husband is a namby pamby sexless slave and the children will likely grow up as serial killers, or worse, lawyers.

Lech;

What does heirloom mean wrt food?

Compare and contrast:

1. Woman grabs organic milk, goes to the counter, pays for it, takes it home, feeds it to her kids, doesn’t say anything about it to anyone.

2. Woman loudly comments, so that passers-by can hear her, that she is looking for an organic Christmas tree and organic Vermont maple syrup, and tells everyone who will listen to her all about her LEED certified condo.

There’s not a big market for colostomy bag syrup – mine, others, organic or oherwise. I could be wrong.