Family citrus farms and the roadside stands they operate have been disappearing since the 1960s,
the
New York Times
reported.
According to the report, these enterprises have been
victims of freezes and disease, highways that diverted customers, corporate consolidation, and the relentless pressure on growers to sell their land to developers.
Most of the remaining citrus stores are based along Florida’s Indian River from Cocoa to Fort Pierce, the article said. But the area “has come to look a little more like the rest of Florida in recession.” Most of the companies’ business comes from shipping gift boxes to recipients in the North.
Larry Harvey, grand-nephew of the founders of Harvey’s Groves, told the
Times
that there are now 37 members of the Gift Fruit Shippers Association. When his father helped start the association in the late 1940s, there were 152 members. (Source:
New York Times,
Dec. 31, 2009.)
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