Overview
Longtime agricultural economist Desmond O'Rourke wrote Tree Fruit Trade as both a tribute and a cautionary tale. Along with personal anecdotes, he describes major players and organizations, and chronicles challenges like the 1988 Alar scare, changing regulations, food trends, and the 2020 Covid-19 pandemic. He discusses the emergence of new threats, from the growth of Walmart to rising competition from China, and explains how the intrusion of electronics, sensors, and computerized technology has forced family-owned firms to absorb new, specialized employees. He recounts battles to gain foreign market access and the ongoing campaign to ensure adequate labor for a growing footprint. He analyzes how the availability of adequate water and a large expanse of Columbia Basin flat land allowed the industry to dramatically increase production, achieve new levels of productivity, and design orchards suited to modern tree architecture.
Full Product Details
Author: Desmond O'Rourke
Publisher: Washington State University Press
Imprint: Washington State University Press
Dimensions:
Width: 15.20cm
, Height: 1.90cm
, Length: 22.90cm
Weight: 0.253kg
ISBN: 9780874224122
ISBN 10: 0874224128
Pages: 294
Publication Date: 30 June 2022
Audience:
General/trade
,
General
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active
Availability: Temporarily unavailable
The supplier advises that this item is temporarily unavailable. It will be ordered for you and placed on backorder. Once it does come back in stock, we will ship it out to you.
Reviews
An invaluable contribution to the understanding of Washington state's top commodity, and extremely enlightening to anyone unfamiliar with the industry. It is well written and well sourced. --Dan Wheat, award-winning freelance journalist and former Capital Press field reporter The level of detail is outstanding. Only this author was so closely tied to nearly everything he writes about. I know of no books like it. Everything in it resonates with me. --Bruce Grim, former executive director of the Washington State Horticultural Association and retired fruit marketing associations manager
"""An invaluable contribution to the understanding of Washington state's top commodity, and extremely enlightening to anyone unfamiliar with the industry. It is well written and well sourced."" --Dan Wheat, award-winning freelance journalist and former Capital Press field reporter ""The level of detail is outstanding. Only this author was so closely tied to nearly everything he writes about. I know of no books like it. Everything in it resonates with me."" --Bruce Grim, former executive director of the Washington State Horticultural Association and retired fruit marketing associations manager"
Author Information
Desmond O'Rourke has studied and worked in the Washington State fruit industry for more than fifty years (thirty in the WSU Department of Agricultural Economics), and since 2000, as a private consultant through his company, Belrose, Inc., for 24 years publisher of the World Apple Report. He has published on many aspects of the world fruit trade, and has served on numerous national, state, and university committees.
