Orange mango jam and the seedless threat

There aren't any organic Valencia oranges at the farmers market. The suppliers say that they don't use any sprays. I'm going to have to read up some more on this. More later.

After juicing 6 Valencias, scrape the pulp out of the orange halves, and put into the five inch round pot. Add pulp of one mango. Add zest and juice of one lemon. Add 1/2 cup organic brown sugar, less to reduce the sweetness. Add two thin cut slices of ginger

Cook in the oven in the summer position for two hours. Remove the ginger, toss, and blend the rest before storing.

The orange pulp will impart a mild bitter flavor to the jam.

Seedless oranges are radiated as samplings, then sprayed with a germinator (? a hormone to get the flower to fruit). If the flower is pollinated by an insect it will seed.

Consumers don't like seeds in oranges. I think the market is like 10% for seeded oranges versus seedless. The prediction is that in ten years there won't be any seeded oranges in stores. The GMO folks are trying out new varieties. The dollars are large and growers are threatening the legislature that similar restrictions overseas will cause the market in CA to disappear.

So growers do everything to limit bees around their orchards. The ongoing war against life. Growers use neuro toxins, banned in some European countries, to kill the bees.

Quote: The growers were not afraid of being stung, they were afraid that the bees would pollinate their trees, something farmers usually want bees to do. But these trees in the San Joaquin Valley were planted to bear seedless fruit, and pollination would create seeds.

This spring ('07) a citrus growers trade association will be lobbying the state legislature for a Seedless Mandarin Protection Act that would establish ''no-fly zones'' of two miles for hives around designated orchards. End Quote