By John Gale | Grades 1 – 5 Gardening Teacher
One thing I found fascinating this month is a short history of the pumpkin and how it relates to the Cinderella fairy tale. Since their introduction from the Americas back into Europe around the 15th century, pumpkins quickly became known as a fast growing farming staple due to their hardiness and ability to grow food quickly. But when nobles looked down upon this as peasant food, the fast-growing and empty-inside of the pumpkin also made it a great insult for politicians and aristocrats, the idea of being grandiose but having no substance inside. Thus when the fairy tale was written around 1700, the pumpkin became a perfect symbol of Cinderella’s carriage; a hard working peasant staple turned into something elegant but made out of nothing but fairy dust! Hear more about it on the GastroPod podcast, looking at food through the lens of Science & History.
