From the Farm to the lunch tray

Satsuma Harvest Alabama citrus growers are in the middle of the satsuma harvest. More than one-third of this year's crop is going to every school in the state.

by Chad Petri

Published: Tue, December 04, 2007 - 4:39 am CST Last Updated: Thu, July 31, 2008 - 1:19 am CST

Satsumas are a unique citrus fruit. They're more labor intensive than most. Field workers have to snip them from trees with clippers. If you merely tear them off the tree, you'll likely damage its fragile skin. For the fourth year in a row, much of this year's satsuma harvest is going to Alabama public schools in the "farm to school" program.

"We want to create market and create market demand," says horticulturalist Monte Nesbitt. "This is helping to accomplish that." He says 30 to 40 percent of commercial satsuma production is going into this program. That's about 150,000 pounds of fruit. The public schools have ordered enough satsumas to give each child one.

"We want kids to seek out good nutrition and nutritious foods," says Nesbitt. "We don't want them to be turned away by seeds or something that's difficult to peel or messy." He says this program also helps the farmers. They get to push their products into areas further north and it helps to limit local competition.

"We look at it as a win win situation," says Director of the Gulf Coast research and extension center Ronnie McDaniel. "I mean, it's helping the growers, plus the kids are getting a good fruit." Only a handful of farms are participating. Most of Alabama's satsuma crop is grown in Mobile and Baldwin counties because of the ideal climate here.

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