A01=Amanda L. Van Lanen
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agricultural history
agriculture
American farmers
American history
apple industry
apple orchard
Author_Amanda L. Van Lanen
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Category1=Non-Fiction
Category=HBJ
Category=HBJK
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Category=JFCV
Category=KNAC
Category=NHK
Category=WQH
chemical sprays
chemical warfare
climate change
COP=United States
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environment
environmental history
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eq_history
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federal funding of irrigation
fruit production
Great Northern railroad
industrial agriculture
irrigation
labor
labor history
Language_English
marketing
new technologies
Northern Pacific railways
orchards
organic agriculture
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Pacific Northwest
perfect apple
Price_€20 to €50
PS=Forthcoming
red delicious
softlaunch
transportation
Washington State
Washington State history
Wenatchee Valley
western history
western irrigation
Product details
- ISBN 9780806193984
- Weight: 438g
- Dimensions: 152 x 229mm
- Publication Date: 07 May 2024
- Publisher: University of Oklahoma Press
- Publication City/Country: US
- Product Form: Paperback
- Language: English
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In the nineteenth century, most American farms had a small orchard or at least a few fruit-bearing trees. People grew their own apple trees or purchased apples grown within a few hundred miles of their homes. Nowadays, in contrast, Americans buy mass-produced fruit in supermarkets, and roughly 70 percent of apples come from Washington State. So how did Washington become the leading producer of America’s most popular fruit? In this enlightening book, Amanda L. Van Lanen offers a comprehensive response to this question by tracing the origins, evolution, and environmental consequences of the state’s apple industry.
Washington’s success in producing apples was not a happy accident of nature, according to Van Lanen. Apples are not native to Washington, any more than potatoes are to Idaho or peaches to Georgia. In fact, Washington apple farmers were late to the game, lagging their eastern competitors. The author outlines the numerous challenges early Washington entrepreneurs faced in such areas as irrigation, transportation, and labor. Eventually, with crucial help from railroads, Washington farmers transformed themselves into “growers” by embracing new technologies and marketing strategies. By the 1920s, the state’s growers managed not only to innovate the industry but to dominate it.
Industrial agriculture has its fair share of problems involving the environment, consumers, and growers themselves. In the quest to create the perfect apple, early growers did not question the long-term environmental effects of chemical sprays. Since the late twentieth century, consumers have increasingly questioned the environmental safety of industrial apple production. Today, as this book reveals, the apple industry continues to evolve in response to shifting consumer demands and accelerating climate change. Yet, through it all, the Washington apple maintains its iconic status as Washington’s most valuable agricultural crop.
Washington’s success in producing apples was not a happy accident of nature, according to Van Lanen. Apples are not native to Washington, any more than potatoes are to Idaho or peaches to Georgia. In fact, Washington apple farmers were late to the game, lagging their eastern competitors. The author outlines the numerous challenges early Washington entrepreneurs faced in such areas as irrigation, transportation, and labor. Eventually, with crucial help from railroads, Washington farmers transformed themselves into “growers” by embracing new technologies and marketing strategies. By the 1920s, the state’s growers managed not only to innovate the industry but to dominate it.
Industrial agriculture has its fair share of problems involving the environment, consumers, and growers themselves. In the quest to create the perfect apple, early growers did not question the long-term environmental effects of chemical sprays. Since the late twentieth century, consumers have increasingly questioned the environmental safety of industrial apple production. Today, as this book reveals, the apple industry continues to evolve in response to shifting consumer demands and accelerating climate change. Yet, through it all, the Washington apple maintains its iconic status as Washington’s most valuable agricultural crop.
Amanda L. Van Lanen is Professor of History at Lewis-Clark State College, Lewiston, Idaho. She has published articles in Agricultural History and Journal of the West.
