Foreign Quinces

Last year I bought a quince tree. I went to a nursery in a wine region; a region where there are numerous local homegrown, home baked food companies; one a bit bigger than the rest.

Talking to the nursery man about quinces and local crops, I was shocked to learn that a well known local producer had imported quinces from Asia to increase the output of local quince products. The products were still labelled as made in Australia. I made a mental note to not buy any more products from that company. A pity given the magnificent range.

After the contaminated berry issue last year, my stance on food labelling has increased. Food must be labelled to show where it was grown, where it was processed and there must be a list of all preservatives and additives.

To help fix our economy and reduce unemployment we must be prepared to pay a little bit more for local Aussie produce. If it's grown in Asia there is a high risk of contamination. The berry bad problem was due to poor sanitary habits of the foreign handlers; there was no hand washing after using unsanitary toilets. If you want a berry smoothie then wait until they are seasonal and grown in Australia.

BTW last year I harvested one quince.

This year I'm hoping for six to ten. The buds are just bursting now.