The Pumpkin: Staple Food or Food Waste
The Rise of the Pumpkin Patch
At this time of year there are fields of pumpkins visible as you drive around the countryside in North America and in several other countries around the world. In Canada, pumpkin patches are most common in Ontario, Quebec and British Columbia[1]. Statistics Canada has been tracking pumpkin and squash production since 1978. The highest production year was 2020 when there was a bumper crop or 96,220 tonnes of marketed production of pumpkins when over 12,000 acres were planned and harvested[2]. That year British Columbia led the nation in farm sales of pumpkins[3]. Pumpkins rose from the rank of fifteenth most important vegetable in Canada in 1986, to seventh in 2009 when it was most important vegetable after potatoes, sweet corn, peas, beans, tomatoes and carrots[3].
The fast growth in pumpkin crops is related to the popularity of this vegetable during Thanksgiving and Halloween as a decoration. Unlike some places in the world, who eat pumpkin throughout the year, most North Americans and Europeans ignore it for most of the year. Instead of eating fresh pumpkins, they are used for fall decorations, often set out at Thanksgiving or carved in them into jack-o’-lanterns for Halloween. In Canada less than 10% of pumpkins are processed into canned pumpkin pie mixes and similar products. Most sales come from fresh pumpkins so much so that farmers have turned their pumpkin patches into agri-tourism augmenting their farm income by opening up their farms to u-pick pumpkins, hay rides, pumpkin growing contests, pumpkin carving contests, farm stands and the like[4].
A Little Pumpkin History
Pumpkins are winter squash, and a member of the cucurbitaceae or gourd family, which includes squash, pumpkins, cucumbers, muskmelons, honeydew melons, cantaloupe, watermelons and zucchini[5]. The majority of pumpkins consumed in the world today originated from plants that were native to Central America and Mexico and were domesticated in Mexico about 10,000 years ago[6]. Pumpkins played an important role in the agricultural practices of Indigenous North Americans. They were used for food, often as part of a planting referred to as the three sisters[7]. All parts of the plant are edible – the flesh, the flowers, the stems and the seeds. Nearly all European explorers and settlers remarked on the pumpkins they encountered in the Americas[8]. In 1584, French explorer Jacques Cartier explored the St. Lawrence region of North America, he reported finding “gros melons” growing in the region. The name was translated as “pompions” in English, and that word became “pumpkin.” Pumpkins have been grown in the St. Lawrence region for approximately 6000 years[9].
It is believed that pumpkins made their way to Europe a process referred to as the Columbian Exchange[10]. Explorers like Christopher Columbus introduced cows, horses, pigs, sheep, and many foods to the New World and they took pumpkins, corn, potatoes, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, peppers, squash, pineapples, peanuts, cacao beans, and other items back to Europe and Africa. Dickenson (2008) uses ‘Cartierian’ or ‘Champlinian’ exchange to describe how the voyages to North America by Jacques Cartier and Samuel de Champlain in the 16th Century to what is now called Canada was followed by North American plants such as the “gros melons” being propagated in the Old World[11].
Early settlers to North America introduced the celebration of All Hallow’s Eve, where lanterns carved from turnips, potatoes or gourds were set out to guard against the spirits. The settlers found that the native pumpkins, which were grown by the Indigenous peoples, were easier to carve and made an ideal jack-o-lantern. This practice continues today[12].
Pumpkin and Food Waste
My pet peeve regarding modern use of pumpkins and gourds as decorations is the amount of food waste generated. A poll in the UK revealed that most Britons don’t know that their hallowe’en pumpkin is edible and over half of the 24 million pumpkins produced in that country end up as food waste[13].Canadians purchase over 10 million fresh pumpkins every year with most ending up in landfills[14]. Food waste is a Canadian issue with estimates of between 95 and 115 kilograms of food per household wasted every year[15]. According to Environment and Climate Change Canada[16] food that is produced but not eaten ends up in landfills and creates methane, a powerful greenhouse gas. By reducing food loss and waste in Canada, we can also reduce our greenhouse gas emissions, so eat your pumpkin[17].
Eat Your Pumpkin
Generally, the pumpkins grown for jack-o-lanterns are not as flavourful as other varieties, such as sugar pie pumpkins or butternut squash but that doesn’t mean they aren’t edible. They are a bit watery and stringy but they made delicious soups and stews. After Hallowe’en, I remove the seeds from the pumpkins (if I have not done so before), clean out any remains from the candles (if I used them), peel the pumpkin and cut into chunks and freeze all those that I am not going to use immediately. If I intend to use the pumpkin for baking cakes or pumpkin pie, I roast the pumpkin until tender in a 325 oven. When cool I squeeze the out the excess moisture then puree the pulp and either use immediately or freeze.
Here are two of my favourite recipes for the remains of my Halloween decorations.
Pumpkin and Carrot Soup
4 cups chopped pumpkin
2 large carrots, chopped
2 small shallots (or 1 small onion) chopped
2 cloves of garlic, minced
2 Tbsp. vegetable oil
½ tsp. ginger
¼ tsp. cinnamon
4 cups of vegetable stock
- In a large soup pot heat oil and saute the vegetables.
- Add seasoning and stock and simmer until the vegetables are soft.
- Puree with a handblender and serve.
Pumpkin, Italian Sausage and Black Bean Stew
2-3 Italian Sausages
4 cloves of garlic minced
1 medium onion chopped
1 large can of tomatoes
6 cups of chicken broth
6-8 cups of chopped pumpkin (can be fresh or frozen)
1 tsp chili powder
1 large can of black beans
Salt and pepper to taste
Crushed tortilla chips, grated cheese, and plain yogurt for garnish.
- Remove the meat from the sausages and saute with the onions and garlic in a large soup pot.
- Add tomatoes, chicken broth, pumpkin and chili powder and bring to a boil then simmer until the pumpkin is soft.
- Use a potato masher to break up the pumpkin.
- Add black beans and simmer for 10 minutes.
- Taste and adjust seasons (add salt, pepper, more chili powder if necessary).
- Serve with crushed tortilla chips, grated cheese for garnish and a dollop of plain yogurt.
Summary
If you are a fan of The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency, a series of novels by Alexander McCall Smith, like me you may have been intrigued by the references to pumpkins, for example:
“Mma Ramotswe so enjoyed eating. The yellow flesh of a pumpkin or a squash, boiled and then softened with a lump of butter (if one’s budget stretched to that), was one of God’s greatest gifts to Botswana. And it tasted so good, too, with a slice of fine Botswana beef, dripping in gravy” (McCall Smith,2004, p. 4).[18]
“It was time to take the pumpkin out of the pot and eat it. In the final analysis, that was what solved these big problems of life. You could think and think and get nowhere, but you still had to eat your pumpkin. That brought you down to earth. That gave you a reason for going on. Pumpkin” [McCall Smith, 1998, p. 85].[19]
References
[1] Roach, B. (2023, Oct. 31). Great gourd-a’-mighty! ATB Economics. https://www.atb.com/company/insights/the-twenty-four/pumpkin-production-in-alberta-and-canada-2022/
[2] https://www.statcan.gc.ca/o1/en/plus/4860-pumpkin-spice-your-life
[3] FAST STATS 2020. British Columbia’s Agriculture, Food and Seafood Sector. JANUARY 2022. https://www2.gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/farming-natural-resources-and-industry/agriculture-and-seafood/statistics/industry-and-sector-profiles/fast-stats/fast_stats_2020.pdf
[4] Dornan, J. (2009). The Pumpkin—A Growing Vegetable. Statistics Canada. https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/11-621-m/11-621-m2004018-eng.htm
[5] See deZwart, M. (2022). Squash – Pumpkin Family is misunderstood and underrated. BC Food History. https://bcfoodhistory.ca/squash-pumpkin/
[6] https://arqueologiamexicana.mx/mexico-antiguo/origen-y-domesticacion-de-la-calabaza
[7] See deZwart, M. (2018). Three Sisters. BC Food History. https://bcfoodhistory.ca/three-sisters/
[8] Theobald, M. (2009). Some Pumpkins! Halloween and Pumpkins in Colonial America. https://www.wisconsinhistory.org/Records/Article/CS15310
[9] https://www.erudit.org/en/journals/scientia/2008-v31-n1-2-scientia2574/019753ar.pdf
[10] Nunn, N., & Qian, N. (2010). The Columbian exchange: A history of disease, food, and ideas. Journal of Economic Perspectives, 24(2), 163-188. https://pubs.aeaweb.org/doi/pdf/10.1257/jep.24.2.163
[11] Dickenson, V. (2008). Cartier, Champlain, and the fruits of the New World: Botanical Exchange in the 16th and 17th Centuries. Scientia Canadensis, 31(1), 27-47. https://www.erudit.org/en/journals/scientia/2008-v31-n1-2-scientia2574/019753ar.pdf
[12] See M.Gale Smith (2020). Halloween tricks and treats. https://bcfoodhistory.ca/halloween-tricks-treats/
[13]https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/oct/08/over-half-uks-24m-halloween-pumpkins-destined-for-food-waste
[14] Scholz A., (2021) Fighting Waste, One Pumpkin at a Time. https://earthday.ca/2021/10/19/fighting-waste-one-pumpkin-at-a-time/
[15] https://madeinca.ca/food-waste-canada-statistics/
[16] https://www.canada.ca/en/environment-climate-change/services/managing-reducing-waste/food-loss-waste.html
[17] Scholz A., (2021) Fighting Waste, One Pumpkin at a Time. https://earthday.ca/2021/10/19/fighting-waste-one-pumpkin-at-a-time/
[18] McCall Smith (2004). The Full Cupboard of Life: More From the No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency. Pantheon.
[19] McCall Smith (1998). The No.1 Ladies’ Detective Agency. Anchor.
