Pineapples are where it's at

I just walked to the fridge to open it and re-discover that l lack sustenance, when I noticed my room mates pineapple orange banana juice. He had opened it, which means I can grab a sip without him knowing.

What I discovered is that pineapples are a delicious fruit. Of course, I already knew this, but as many things do, that thought faded away until a taste re-triggered the opinion. So, I tempted myself, "I would love to buy a nice juicy pineapple right now." Then, the environmental piece of me kicked in and wondered about how far the pineapple had to travel, filling up the air with burning fossil fuels, organic foods, and local farming. Essentially though, from where was this pineapple, is what I wondered and when is it in season?

The first thing I like to do is look at the origin of the word. I found out that the word comes from around the middle of the 17th century and was termed as such due to it's resemlance to a pine cone. So, that's that. Now, where does one go to pluck a pineapple?

The pineapple is indigenous to South America, but is now being grown all over the world. The natives of South America introduced the plant to the Indies, where Colombus found it and brought it to the Western World. It can now be found in Hawaii, the Philippines, Thailand, Zimbabwe, and Guam, as some of the more common locations. The name "Dole" is likely familiar to most in the United States because a man by the name of James Dole began large scale production of Pineapple in Hawaii in the 1990s. Realistically though, pineapples can be grown all over the world under controlled conditions. It just can not be exposed to freezing conditions, or it will die.

In Southern Brazil and Paraguay, this fruit grows in the wild. The plant only fruits one Pineapple, then dies. This plant is a tropical plant, but can be exposed to temperatures as low as 28 degrees for brief periods of time without dying. Pineapples also do not require much rain in comparison to other plants, and can live with only 25-150 inches of rain annually.

So, in the summer, if a person would like to grow a pineapple, go for it! Or one could even grow it in the winter as long as it's grown inside with fluorescent plant lights.