The Pear Fruit Is Rich In Dietary Fiber

Pears come in many varieties. Years ago, before fresh fruit could always found in stores, and transportation was not so available, people stored fruits in cellars to last them over the winter. Apples and pears were good candidates. The pears for winter storage were selected for their keeping ability more than for their taste.

In the fall of the year, it was a real event to go into the countryside to our favorite orchards and buy our fruit for the winter. We bought apples and pears, paying 2$ to $3 for a bushel. Our fruit cellar was a basement room under an un-heated area of the house. (This was before the days of central heating and even city people used a wood or kerosene fired cooking stove and a coal fired (pipeless) furnace that was designed to heat the living area of the house. Our bedrooms were not heated so we piled on the quilts and blankets. A glass of water beside your bed would be frozen in the morning.)

The fruit was carefully packed in bins, away from marauding mice as much as possible. I can still remember the smell of the fruit cellar with its outside door laying at an angle over the stairs that led into the dank, dark dungeon of the cellar. Even in March, there may be some fruit left, enough to bake a pie.

The reason for this part of the story is to emphasize that with changing times and resources, the variety of fruit available has changed. The somewhat bitter and pulpy pears of my youth have been replaced by the sweet, fragile, succulent, juicy, and delicious pears that are available from the States of Washington and Oregon, where the Japanese Current keeps the climate warn, wet, and stable.

We buy for our immediate needs and let the producers and vendors worry about storage. Transportation has made all the difference. Instead of selecting fruit for its keeping ability, we have the luxury of shopping for quality and taste. This is especially true of pears. With the ability of the growers to select the best marketable varieties and with the availability of controlled atmosphere storage, our world enjoys variety and quality of produce unheard of in former times.

Pears, like similar fruits are rich in dietary fiber, vitamins and minerals. They are excellent for eating out of hand and in salads. Did you ever hear of pear cider? It is delicious.

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