Transcript for the Piece Audio version of A White Flag of Fruit

A White Flag of Fruit
[HOST INTRO] Who would think that Idaho and Iran have anything in common? Dr. Esmaeil Fallahi (ESS-my-eel Fuh-LAW-hee) does. This Iranian immigrant and Idaho fruit researcher says you only have to visit his fruit orchard in Parma to see that southern Idaho and his Middle Eastern homeland have important similarities. In this installment of Edible Idaho, correspondent Guy Hand learns why Iran’s fruitfulness is good for Idaho agriculture. (5:30 including intro to soc out; ambient sound & music to 6:00; fade at will)
[Host Outro] To listen to past Edible Idaho programs or sign up for podcasts, go to northwest food news dot com.
[SCRIPT]
(Hand) (Walking in orchard) Dr. Esmaeil Fallahi walks through his fruit orchard at the University of Idaho Research and Extension Center in Parma, Idaho.
(Fallahi) Down here we have walnuts that I brought from my family ranch in Northern Iran and also Mulberries.
(Hand) He points to crops most Idahoans wouldn’t think could grow here: figs, pistachios, almonds, even pomegranates.
(Fallahi) Those trees over there, they are quince. They make excellent jam and excellent fruit. (walking)
(Fallahi) (Hand) Quince is in the apple family. By mid October each one of these cantalope-sized fruits will weigh around two pounds.
(Fallahi) These are persimmons. Nobody could believe that we could grow persimmons here, but this is seven, eight years that we’ve had persimmon every year . . .
(Hand) Dr. Fallahi is professor of Pomology, the science of fruit physiology, at the Parma Research Center. He has black hair, a quick smile and the faith that far more varieties of fruit will grow in Idaho than currently do. That’s because they grew on his grandfather’s ranch in his native Iran.
(Fallahi) My family ranch is located in the region of Telegrand and it is quite similar to where we are in Idaho. It is high desert condition and warm days and cool nights. That’s pretty much the same conditions that we have in southwest Idaho.
(Hand) Dr. Fallahi came to the U.S. 34 years ago to study horticulture. He got his masters and Phd. here in the Northwest. Eventually, Fallahi and his young Iranian family moved to Idaho where he began working at the Parma Research Center.
(Fallahi) Coming to Idaho was quite an experience in that I found the region quite similar to my family ranch, but the variety of fruit crops was not nearly as much that you can see in the region that I came from. And that’s why I started growing crops that at the beginning I was laughed at a number of times, but that was O.K., my curiosity told me that I have to continue.
Thousands of years of farming history is the reason that Persia, now Iran, grows far more varieties of crops than Idaho.
(Fallahi) At the beginning I could see that they are saying this Persian Guy is nuts. What is he doing? (laughs)
(Hand) Dr. Fallahi says he understands why people were wary of him, his Iranian family and his odd ideas about fruit. That’s why he would introduce himself as Persian . . .
(Fallahi) And of course when I introduce myself as Persian the good thing is that 80% of people don’t know that Persia is same as Iran and the bad thing is that people need to be better with their geography (laughing). But when they see the fruits that I am producing here, fruits will attract them. And after they try the fruit, then I become a nice guy (laughing). That fruit becomes like a white flag.
(Hand) A recent national magazine article called Fallahi an “ambassador of fruit.” He must be because years ago the Idaho farmers he has helped warmed up to this new American citizen they now call “Essie” — and to his white flag of fruit.
(Elias) OK. Let’s rock & roll . . . (Sound of tractor)
(Hand) Tom Elias is one of those Idaho farmer. He’s netting rows of table grapes — grapes he started growing because of Dr. Fallahi.
(Elias) What Essie’s done is brought a new dimension to fruit production here in the state of Idaho. And not only is it table grapes, but we’re looking at peaches, apples, we’ve got alternative fruit crops here, and everything was introduced by Essie here in the state.
(Hand) According to Elias, Dr. Fallahi virtually created Idaho’s now burgeoning commercial table grape business, convinced farmers to grow Fuji apples and established Idaho’s small but growing specialty fruit business. But bringing this diversity to Idaho has required some personal risk. Dr. Fallahi and colleagues have traveled back to Iran and other troubled parts of the world to collect plants.
(Fallahi) Some of these grapes came as far as Kandahar, Afghanistan and that was quite an adventure to bring it and going there and not knowing that every minute a bomb may explode or whatever. But if you are a true gardener by the heart, you can take that chance. Either a true gardener or crazy! (laughing) One of them.
(Hand) But bombs may not be as big a threat to Dr. Fallahi’s research as budget cuts. The University of Idaho is considering closing or greatly curtailing work at the Parma Research Center, the only facility in Idaho researching exotic fruit crops. Today, though, the fate of the Center and Dr. Fallahi’s research is undecided.
(Hand) I’m Guy Hand in Parma Idaho