Name: 美國人最大的水蜜桃迷思！ (The biggest peach myth in America)
Uploaded: 2026-03-19T16:30:50.000Z
Duration: 6 min 54 s

Soft, fuzzy, sweet, and oh, so delicious.

軟軟的、毛茸茸的、甜甜的，而且，哇，超美味的。

When you get a really good peach, it's a tremendous kind of sensory experience.

當你吃到一顆很棒的桃子時，那是一種非常棒的感官體驗。

The US produces 600,000 tons of this stone fruit each year, and it's synonymous with one Georgia.

美國每年生產 60 萬噸這種核果，它也代表了喬治亞州。

Those are considered the best look at your outfit.

這些被認為是最棒的，看看你的打扮。

你看起來像個小巧的喬治亞州桃子。

It's on license plates and road signs, and

at the end of almost every film you've ever watched, there's even an entire county named after it.

在你看過的幾乎所有電影的結尾，甚至還有一個整個縣是以它命名的。

But here's the despite its nickname, Georgia doesn't even produce the most peaches in the U.S.

但令人意外的是，儘管有這個暱稱，喬治亞州產的桃子並不是全美最多的。

It's really not a southern fruit in particular.

它其實並不是特別南方的水果。

So how did Georgia become the Peach State?

那喬治亞州是怎麼變成桃子州的呢？

A peach is what's called a stone fruit, meaning there's a hard pit at the center.

桃子是一種所謂的核果，意思是中間有一個硬硬的核。

There are clingstones which cling tightly to the pit, and freestones which pull away cleanly.

有緊核桃，果肉緊貼著核，還有離核桃，果肉可以輕鬆脫離。

They could be yellow or white, fuzzy or smooth.

它們可以是黃色或白色，有絨毛或光滑。

是同一個水果，只是沒有絨毛。

And like most crops grown in the US Peaches came from somewhere.

而且就像美國種植的大多數作物一樣，桃子也是從別的地方來的。

The earliest evidence we have for peach usage dates back to China around 7,000 years ago.

我們最早發現桃子使用的證據，可以追溯到大約七千年前的中國。

They came to Europe via the Silk Road, and

so they acquired the scientific name Prunus persica because it was assumed they originally came from Persia.

所以牠們的學名是 Prunus persica，因為當時大家認為牠們是從波斯來的。

From there, Spanish explorers carried peach bits across the Atlantic in the 1500s and planted them across Florida, where Native Americans used them for food and medicine and spread them up the coast.

從那裡開始，西班牙探險家在十五世紀時將桃子帶過大西洋，並在佛羅裡達州種植，當地美洲原住民將牠們用於食物和藥材，並將其傳播到海岸。

So by the time English colonists arrived in Virginia in the early 1600s, peaches were abundant.

所以到了十六世紀初英國殖民者抵達維吉尼亞州時，桃子已經很多了。

Most peach usage seems to have been for foraging hogs and making cider and brandy.

大多數桃子的用途似乎是餵豬，以及釀造蘋果酒和白蘭地。

對我來說，這嚐起來就像桃子白蘭地。

It would take a war, a broken economy, and

這需要一場戰爭、一個破碎的經濟，以及

a new generation of horticulturalists to turn that idea into an industry.

一群新一代的園藝家，將這個想法變成一個產業。

When the Civil War ended, Georgia's economy was shattered because cotton had built the old South.

南北戰爭結束時，喬治亞州的經濟崩潰了，因為棉花支撐著舊時的南方。

There's a really strong push among a lot of newspaper men and sort of upper class folks in the south to develop a new reputation, like a new face for the South.

當時南方有許多報業人士和上流社會人士，積極推動建立新的聲譽，為南方塑造新形象。

There was also in Georgia, a really active horticultural society.

喬治亞州還有一個非常活躍的園藝學會。

So there's a lot of language like queen peach is dethroning King Cotton to sort of say, Georgia is doing something different.

所以有很多說法，像是「桃子皇后」取代「棉花國王」，來表達喬治亞州正在做一些不一樣的事。

We're making a new kind of agricultural civilization.

我們要建立一種新的農業文明。

Peaches were already growing in Georgia, but getting them to market was the issue.

桃子已經在喬治亞州種植了，但如何將它們運送到市場才是問題。

它們很容易碰傷，而且腐爛得很快。

So if Georgia was Going to build a new identity around this fruit, it needed a peach that could travel.

所以如果喬治亞州要圍繞這種水果建立新的身分，就需要一種能夠長途運輸的桃子。

In Georgia, the most important commercial peach variety was developed.

在喬治亞州，開發出了最重要的商業桃子品種。

It was called the Alberta by Samuel Henry Rumpf down in Marshallville.

這種桃子由 Samuel Henry Rumpf 在 Marshallville 那邊命名為 Alberta。

Rumpf likely crossed Chinese cling with a yellow freestone known as Early Crawford.

Rumpf 很可能將中國緊核桃與一種稱為 Early Crawford 的黃色離核桃雜交。

However, he was never able to provide a clear genealogy for the Alberta.

不過，他從來無法清楚說明 Alberta 的家系。

他是以他妻子的名字來命名的。

That was also kind of an important move for a southern gentleman.

對一位南方紳士來說，這也是很重要的一步。

And at the same time Rump was experimenting in his orchards, something else was changing.

同時，當 Rumpf 在他的果園裡實驗時，其他事情也在改變。

The development of refrigerated transport.

That was a key part of getting the commercial industry going in the South.

這是南方商業產業發展的關鍵部分。

Georgia really is kind of the first peach growing region that's shipping at a considerable distance to some of the big marketplaces of the North.

喬治亞州真的是第一個能夠長途運輸到北方主要市場的桃子種植區。

There were at one time more Alberta peaches grown than any other fruit variety.

曾幾何時，種植的愛爾伯特桃子比任何其他水果種類都多。

By the early 1900s, Georgia was known for its peaches.

在 1900 年代初期，喬治亞州就以其桃子聞名了。

Labels on crates shipped north feature the word Georgia front and center.

運往北方的貨箱標籤上，喬治亞州這個字樣醒目地擺在最前面。

Macon, Georgia hosts a big peach carnival in the 1890s that culminates in the 1920s in Peach County.

喬治亞州的梅肯在 1890 年代舉辦了盛大的桃子嘉年華，到了 1920 年代，這個嘉年華演變成了桃子郡的活動。

有桃子派、桃子酥和桃子脆餅。

Even During World War I, peach pits were burnt down and packed into the filters of gas masks.

即使在第一次世界大戰期間，桃子核也被燒製並裝入防毒面具的濾芯中。

But despite their many uses, peaches never really did overtake cotton.

但儘管用途很多，桃子從未真正取代棉花。

Peaches were never more important than cotton economically.

桃子在經濟上的重要性從未超越棉花。

As far as I can tell, peaches fit kind of hand in glove with the cotton economy, especially with regard to labor.

據我所知，桃子和棉花經濟有著密不可分的關係，尤其是在勞動力方面。

More than a century after the Alberta peach was introduced, Georgia made IT official in 1995.

在亞伯達桃子被引進一個多世紀後，喬治亞州在1995年正式將其列為官方象徵。

But today, Georgia's reputation is bigger than its harvest.

但如今，喬治亞州的聲譽已經超越了其實際產量。

Speaking of delicious peaches, this video is presented by Delicious Yogurt.

說到美味的桃子，這支影片由 Delicious Yogurt 贊助播出。

For over 40 years, Stonyfield Organic has been a champion for truth in our food system.

40多年來，Stonyfield Organic 一直是我們食品系統真相的倡導者。

There's a lot of misinformation out there.

That's why they believe in high quality ingredients to ensure that what they put on shelves is the best product for you and your family.

這就是為什麼他們相信高品質的原料，以確保他們放在貨架上的產品是您和家人最好的選擇。

The milk they use comes from family farms across the country, like Molly Brook Farm in Cabot, Vermont.

他們使用的牛奶來自全國各地的家庭農場，例如佛蒙特州卡伯特鎮的 Molly Brook Farm。

It's USDA organic certified, which means no pesticides, no antibiotics, and no growth hormones.

這是美國農業部有機認證的，這意味著沒有農藥、沒有抗生素，也沒有生長激素。

So when you're on your next grocery run, consider checking out Stonyfield Organic Yogurt.

所以下次去採購時，可以考慮看看 Stonyfield Organic 優格。

It's also important to note that Stonyfield Organic didn't dictate the content of the story, but

另外也要說明的是，Stonyfield Organic 並沒有決定這個故事的內容，

their support made this tasty reporting possible.

但他們的贊助讓這些美味的報導得以實現。

South Carolina and California have both overtaken peaches and today California produces by far the most peaches in the country.

南卡羅來納州和加州都已經超越了桃子，而今天加州生產的桃子是全國最多的。

不過，跟中國比起來，它們都相形見絀。

China produces way more peaches than anybody else in The in the 1920s, nearly 150,000 acres of peaches were planted across the state.

中國生產的桃子比任何地方都多。在 1920 年代，全州種植了將近 15 萬英畝的桃子。

But by 2017, Georgia just had nearly 12,000 acres of peaches left.

但到了 2017 年，喬治亞州只剩下將近 12,000 英畝的桃子。

In Georgia, peaches and the people growing them look different today.

在喬治亞州，現在的桃子和種植它們的人們看起來很不一樣。

The mostly black labor force that powered these early orchards declined during the Great Migration, and

在大遷徙期間，早期果園裡大部分的黑人勞動力減少了，

modern orchards rely heavily on immigrant labor, mainly through H2A guest worker programs.

而現代果園則嚴重依賴移民勞工，主要透過 H2A 簽證計畫。

Peaches needed a certain amount of chill hours every winter time below 45 degrees to reset and bloom properly in the spring.

桃子需要一定數量的冬季低溫（攝氏 7 度以下）才能在春天重新設定並正常開花。

If peach trees start to bloom and then there's a late freeze, you can lose most of your crop.

如果桃樹開始開花，然後又遇到晚霜，你可能會損失大部分的收成。

In 2023, some Georgia growers reported losing more than 90% of their peaches.

2023 年，有些喬治亞州的果農回報損失了超過 90% 的桃子。

The season was described as disastrous, but despite all this, Georgia is still the peach state.

這個產季被形容為災難性的，但儘管如此，喬治亞州仍然是桃子州。

At that moment, when the south was really looking for this sort of new reputation, a new face, peaches were there.

那個時候，當南方真的在尋找一種新的聲譽、一個新的面貌時，桃子就出現了。

它們成為了一項重要的農作物。

I think there's been a continuation of a maintenance of the myth because it turned peaches into a story and that lasts longer than any crop ever could.

我認為這個神話之所以能延續，是因為它把桃子變成了一個故事，而故事的生命力遠比任何農作物都長久。

If you're not already a member, head over to patreon.com Vox where we're doing really cool stuff like chats with our reporters and where Dolly just did a taste test of all the different bananas she found in her last video.

如果你還不是會員，請到 patreon.com Vox，我們在那裡會做很多很棒的事，像是和記者哈拉，Dolly 最近也做了她上次影片裡找到的各種香蕉試吃。

It's so important to support independent journalism.

Your membership allows us to keep making videos like this and allows us to have fun and research really cool weird stories, but

你的會員資格讓我們能繼續製作像這樣的影片，讓我們能有趣地研究各種很酷的冷門故事，

also really dig into the investigative reporting.

And if it doesn't make financial sense for you to support us today, you can still follow us on Patreon for free.

如果今天你無法在經濟上支持我們，你還是可以免費追蹤我們的 Patreon。

And stay up to date with all of the great reporting going on at Vox.

並隨時掌握 Vox 的所有精彩報導。