California farmer ships export-quality cherries across the U.S.
Story by Ching Lee • Photos by Fred Greaves
Colleen White is serious about her food. When buying produce, the Sacramento resident describes herself as the type of shopper who scrutinizes everything. For example, she won’t buy oranges if she can’t smell a citrusy scent. Though she hunts for a good buy, she says she would pay a higher price for freshness and quality. When she saw a Facebook post last year that Chinchiolo Farming Co. in San Joaquin County was taking orders for farm-fresh cherries, she jumped on it, paying for first dibs before the crop was even harvested. Store-bought cherries, she laments, “don’t taste like cherries a lot of times,” either because they weren’t picked at peak ripeness or because supply chain hiccups degraded the fruit. “With how much everything is costing now, I want to make sure my dollars are going to something that I’m going to be able to eat, that is going to last as long as it can, that I’m going to get the most nutrients out of,” White says. As a self-described cherry lover, White says the ones from the farm did not disappoint, as they were large, juicy and had the sweet-tart flavor she’d expect from cherries.
Farmer James Chinchiolo, right, runs Blooms Cherries, a part of Chinchiolo Farming Co. in San Joaquin County that delivers fresh-picked cherries to people’s doorsteps. The farm also opens to the public as Lodi Blooms, a U-pick operation that allows customers to pick their own fruit.
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Spring 2024
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