There has become a long way between the places where you can pick a crisp, fresh apple yourself.

Indland ( https://www.dr.dk/nyheder/indland )

As apple orchards become fewer, there are fewer places where you can buy directly from the grower. It is a symptom that we are moving further away from the food we eat, says Madkulturen.

This week, the apple season has kicked off at Lindved Frugt. 43 min. ago

Cox Orange, Boskoop and Mutzu – there are over twenty different apple varieties in Lars Andersen's orchard south of Odense.

For 26 years, people have been able to pick out the perfect red apple and pick it themselves here, and over that period, the distance between colleagues has grown longer and longer.

- Earlier, there was much more competition and many, many more small orchards scattered around, but many have simply closed because there isn't enough turnover, says Lars Andersen.

- The orchards that remain have become larger and more efficient.

Lars Andersen has run a pick-your-own fruit operation for 26 years, and it is clear that there are fewer others like him.

This is backed up by Statistics Denmark, which reports that apple production has fallen by 80 percent over 40 years. ( https://www.dst.dk/Site/Dst/Udgivelser/nyt/GetPdf.aspx?cid=29819 )

Lars Andersen runs Lindved Frugt, which his father ran before him. He has had pick-your-own for 26 years. (Photo: © Mette Marie Rasmussen, DR)

-----------------------------

Real people behind the apples

-----------------------------

There are no specific figures for farm shops and pick-your-own orchards, but overall less fruit is being grown, and there are fewer hectares of fruit cultivation.

Therefore, Madkulturen has no doubt that it has become harder to select your own fruit from a local grower. Madkulturen is an independent institution under the Ministry of Business that works to strengthen food culture.

- Clearly, the drastic development with fewer apple orchards and fewer hectares where fruit is grown has the consequence that there are fewer places where you can pick your own, says Judith Kyst, director of Madkulturen.

Judith Kyst emphasises that pick-your-own sites are not a solution to the large decline in the production of Danish fruit and vegetables, ( https://www.dr.dk/nyheder/penge/kun-hver-fjerde-groentsag-er-dansk-det-staar-ret-kritisk-til ) but they can be an important link between those who grow the food and those who eat it.

- It reminds us that there are strong values, and we have a wonderful larder in Denmark. A farm shop or a pick-your-own orchard shows that there are real people behind the products we buy in the supermarket, says Judith Kyst.

The Discovery apple is ready to be picked already now in mid-August. (Photo: © Mette Marie Rasmussen, DR)

---------------------

Fine taste and tradition

---------------------

The Discovery apples glow red on the branches at Lars Andersen's. It is precisely this variety that kicks off the season this week, and as he walks down between the rows of fruit trees, the fruit grower describes that he thinks the trend of fewer orchards is unfortunate.

- We have a tradition of having really fine fruit in Denmark. For many years, orchards have been planted. We have the most fantastic apples with a fine taste, so I hope that fruit growing continues, he says.

Facebook ( https://www.facebook.com/share.php?u=undefined )

Warning: This article was translated by a Large Language Model, in case of doubt, you can always visit the original source.