Good Question: Where Does Our Fruit Come From In The Winter?
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- We're still months away from picking apples and strawberries in Minnesota, but there's plenty of beautiful fruit stocked on grocery stores shelves right now.
So, where does our fruit come from in the winter?
Bananas are, far and away, the biggest seller when it comes to fruit in grocery stores. But no bananas are commercially grown in the United States at any time of the year.
Pat Miller with Russ Davis Wholesale says many bananas come from Costa Rica and Guatemala all year round.
During the winter months, apples generally come to the Midwest from Washington State. They are harvested in the fall and then put into a controlled setting that allows them to be stored for months at a time.
By springtime, more apples come from Chile, Argentina and New Zealand. During late summer and fall, most apples in Minnesota grocery stores are locally grown.
Strawberries can come from California and Mexico.
Blueberries can come from as far as Chile and Argentina.
During the spring, grapes come from California, but they are more likely to come from Mexico and Peru in the winter.
Texas grapefruit is the most popular in Minnesota during the winter, while Florida and California produce more oranges.
Pineapples used to come from Hawaii, but now they're more likely to come from Central America.
Pat Kelly, with J&J Distributing in St. Paul, says organic fruits come from similar places as non-organic.
During the summer in Minnesota, farmers can grow apples, melons, plums, a number of berries and some grapes.