Willow Glen Resident

News

No fruits, vegetables accepted from southern Willow Glen

By Alicia Upano

Southern Willow Glen is in the Mediterranean fruit fly quarantine quadrant, following the discovery of two flies in the Santa Teresa area in October.

But Jonathan Avenue resident Lynn Haydis didn't know her home fell in the quarantine area until she tried to donate her fruit to the hungry earlier this year. That's when she learned nonprofit Village Harvest volunteers could not glean the fruit from her trees due to potential Medfly infestations.

The problem has left Haydis in a quandary, as she looks for creative ways to dispose of her avocados, lemons, tangerines and oranges. "It's a crime to waste food," she said.

The quarantine affects more than 200 varieties of fruit and vegetables, including Willow Glen's prolific citrus and stone fruit trees. Even gardeners will have to resist the urge to give away their prized tomatoes, peppers and eggplants this summer because of the pest threat.

While the produce can be enjoyed at home or by neighbors, it can't travel north of Clark Way and Byerly Avenue.

The quarantine area was set by the San Jose Cooperative Mediterranean Fruit Fly Eradication Project around the area where the original two Medflies were discovered. The project is a joint venture of the federal, state and county government.

A Medfly infestation could severely impact regional produce, hitting commercial growers hard, said Sandy Jordan, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's project incident commander.

The last Medfly infestation in San Jose happened in 1992.

The government previously used chemicals to stop Medflies from proliferating, but it now releases sterile male fruit flies to combat the problem. The flies are released regularly into the region by plane. The males are sterile, and when they mate, the females do not produce new larvae, stopping the life cycle. Through this program the U.S. Department of Agriculture hopes to end the quarantine by August.

Medflies are weak fliers and often travel in larvae-infested fruit, which is why homeowners cannot transport the fruit out of the area, Jordan said.

Medflies cause no danger to humans, and the government encourages homeowners to consume their fruit at home. Homeowners who want to share their fruits and vegetables with people outside of the quarantine area should can bake, freeze or dry the produce, Jordan said.

To dispose of the produce, Jordan said homeowners should "double bag" the fruit and tightly tie the bags before placing them in the garbage, not the green waste bins.

But many homeowners have too much fruit to consume at home, so they end up throwing the uneaten fruit in the trash. During this embargo, Village Harvest and Second Harvest Food Bank are not accepting any fruit in or out of the quarantine area. Sacred Heart Community Service will accept fruit only from outside of the quarantine area.

For more information on the Mediterranean fruit fly quarantine, call the San Jose Cooperative Mediterranean Fruit Fly Eradication Project at 408.277.1020.