There is probably no one who knows more about pumpkins in North America than Cindy Ott.
The renowned food scholar and professor at the University of Delaware talks on her website, about how pumpkin festivals across the country have "helped rural communities to survive and to hold on to a rural sense of place." We've captured some of the highlights of her pumpkin work here, but encourage curious readers to further explore her site.
"Pumpkins" are actually a whole category of squashes (so that's technically a fruit on your porch), and the earliest versions came from Mexico thousands of years ago. Pumpkins became popular in the United States the early part of the 1900s, as small farms began growing and marketing pumpkins as deeply tied to a rural way of life.
Although pumpkins can be grown year-round in parts of the United States, the squash had already become known as a staple in harvest displays and holiday treats. They symbolized a feeling of wholesome, country living and stability at a time when the world seemed uncertain and the US was becoming increasingly urban.
Throughout following decades, the fruit itself evolved from a nourishing squash to what Burpee's seed catalog advertised in 1975 as a "smooth and glossy orange-yellow in color with a round shape of good uniformity." Through this process pumpkin aesthetics became prized over taste and other attributes like plant fertility. By 2007, nearly 90 percent of pumpkins were sold for decoration instead of food, and pumpkin sales had grown from 72.000 tons in 1949 to 1.1 million tons in 2007.
Growing other ornamental and giant pumpkins also became popular with the rise of the signature orange "Connecticut field pumpkin" that are favorites today for jack-o-lanterns.
At Delve, we're curious what the future holds for this orange fruit, the farms who grow it, and the thousands of people who celebrate it. We love hearing your thoughts about what drives you to the patch, and seeing your pictures of what you come home with and do with that. We also like to find ways to help people learn more, participate sustainably, and get the most joy from this autumnal tradition.
We invite you to keep sharing your feedback with us as we grow experiences and content that helps meet these goals!
