The Western Edition
SAN FRANCISCO – When life gives you lemons, make lemonade, right?
San Francisco’s Just One Tree Organization, a division of Urban Resource Systems, is doing exactly that — and more. Launched earlier this year, Just One Tree’s purpose is to promote a more self-sufficient society by minimizing the outsourcing of food crops. The target crop for the project’s 2012 to 2013 term is the lemon tree.
“Lemons were selected as the emblem tree crop for San Francisco because the Bay Area is deficient in lemons according to a study by SAGE at Berkeley,” explained Isabel Wade, the project’s founder. “They also grow extremely well in every neighborhood in the city, they produce fruit most of the year, and they are a lovely landscape tree for a garden, and even as an indoor container plant. Plus, they smell great when blooming!”
According to the San Francisco Foodshed Assessment of 2008, San Francisco produces 5.3 tons of citrus crops every year, but the city consumes over 25,000 tons of citrus per year. More specifically, the average consumption of lemons is three pounds per person every year. In order for San Francisco to be self-sufficient in terms of lemon crops, at least 461 tons of lemons need to be produced annually.
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