Last year I tried many new fruits and vegetables that I’d never had before. While there has been studies on the time it takes for people to adjust to new foods, the asian pears I had from North Star Orchard was….unbelievably delicious! I didn’t need to convince my taste buds that they needed any "adjusting". North Star Orchard’s, Lisa Kerschner is featured in a Newsweek article titled "Farming as a Labor of Love". An excerpt:

Additionally, farmers are not always looked upon very highly. In some circles, announcing that your husband - or, worse yet, you - are a farmer is often met with looks of incredulousness. I’ve had a number of people ask why I choose to farm rather than do something more lucrative and be able to have a few vacations a year.

Last winter at a farmers-market meeting, I was asked this question by one of the market’s board members (who happens to be a banker). He had been astounded to hear about farming’s hardships year after year, both at the meetings and when he shopped at the farmers market. He emphatically threw down his pen and notes and said, "I just can’t take it anymore! Why, for gosh sakes, do you folks keep doing this?"

We all looked at each other, and one by one the various farmers in the room spoke up. Without fail, every one of us stated some version of this: "We love growing food for people."