An Inconvenient Fruit WILL CLIMATE CHANGE CHANGE MENUS? BY CAMILLA MORTENSEN Eugene may have been covered in snow recently, but climate change continues warming Oregon bit by bit. The glaciers are melting; the seas are rising; it looks like Florida will be underwater and Iceland will be a new vacation destination. Farmers and chefs in Oregon are already noticing signs of global warming and its effects on food crops. Wine has been getting the most press when it comes to the weather. The southern Willamette Valley's cool weather and "mild Mediterranean climate" are ideal for growing the pinot noir grape, according to a recent article by the Oregon State University Extension Service. But as temperatures slowly warm, the pinot may start to make way for wine grapes traditionally grown in California. Grapes aren't the only fruit that may start to grow better as the temps warm in the Northwest. Other crops more commonly seen in California may move northward. The subtropical kiwi fruit (once called the Chinese gooseberry) grows well in Oregon, and for years researchers have said that paw paw fruits could be grown here. (Paw paws, similar to mangoes, are native to the eastern U.S. If you've never eaten one, it's because despite the predictions, the paw paw market doesn't seem to have taken off.) Persimmons are being grown in a 10-acre orchard out along the McKenzie, says Ross Penhallegon of the OSU extension service in Lane County. Persimmons, which can be eaten when fresh and ripe, are popularly used in baking. There are varieties native to the U.S. and China. The native varieties can survive temperatures well below zero though an early frost will kill unripened fruit on the tree. Penhallegon isn't so sure than global warming is such a big deal when it comes to growing edibles in Oregon. He's more concerned about the recent freeze in terms of this year's crops. On a trip with a recent class he taught on pruning, he says, "apples and pears are where they are supposed to be" but the peach buds were "broken open as a result of the recent cold snap." This can allow a disease called "leaf curl" to ruin the peach crop, he says. Hazelnuts, which bloom between December and March, may also have been affected by the cold: "The winter blooming plants just got fried." He warns too that "anything in a pot" has been "frozen solid." But weather cycles, he says, "are the norm." And, Penhallegon says, "we forget" about weather cycles from 30 to 50 years ago. But will Oregon's chefs be able to cook with tropical fruits grown locally and will the weather cycles change our "northwest cuisine" entirely? Global warming has been blamed for the poor snow pack the last couple of years that has badly affected the Northwest apple crop. Global warming has also been blamed for the "dead zone" that has been lurking off the Oregon coast for the past six years. Researchers say it is killing crabs as well as Oregon's beloved and tasty salmon. Then again, global warming also caused Taiwanese papayas, bananas, pineapples and mangoes that usually ripen in June to hit the market in March last year, reports Fresh Plaza, a news source for "fresh produce and banana news." That's good news if you like your tropical fruit early in the season, but the warming also means that those fruits are rotting faster, too, thanks to the fungi that degrades them. A study in the journal Science says that fungi are ripening earlier and faster, thanks to warmer weather and more rain   Oui! C'est Biologique! | An Inconvenient Fruit | Rockin' Hot Food | Holy Cow-Tastrophe! | Break Out of the Same Old, Same Old | Ukrainian Rhapsody | Welcome to Whiteaker | West Side Slice | Go Ga Ga Over Ga Ya | La Vida Local |Food, Not Fads |