Does purple say Peru?

Rubber band from Asparagus, Produce of Peru

When I was a kid, my parents bought an old farm in the Pine River Valley, north of Toronto. The farmer, one Albert Mews, died and the farm was sold off. When I say the farm, I mean the remaining 5 acres. I have no idea if the balance of the farm was sold off my Albert in his declining, years, or by greedy relations.

Anyway, the farm had a pretty comprehensive garden. It included some asparagus and every year we would get to eat fresh asparagus with butter.

This one of the gastronomic joys of my childhood, and asparagus with butter is still a pretty nice treat. Except it is almost impossible to find local asparagus any more. All you can find is stuff held together with a purple rubber band. And what is printed on the rubber band? "Produce of Peru".

Now I sure that fresh asparagus from Peru is fine, if you are in Peru. But after travelling thousands of kilometres is has lost a lot of crispness and flavour. I guess that is one of the prices that we pay to satisfy our demand to have every fruit and vegetable available every month of the year.

So, when I see asparagus with a purple band around the bottom of the stalks, I will assume it is from Peru. I wonder how I will identify local asparagus? Or if I'll ever see it again?