From the archives: Switzerland's bumper spaghetti harvest

Some stories are of such high quality that they can stand to be repeated. This news story below is a prime example.

The story about Switzerland's bumper crop of spaghitte broke April 1, 1957 and garnered great reaction from the BBC viewers who wanted to know where they too could buy spaghetti trees. The bumper crop was credited, in part, "to the virtual disappearance of the spaghetti weevil."

Here's an excerpt from the script:

It is not only in Britain that spring, this year, has taken everyone by surprise. Here in the Ticino, on the borders of Switzerland and Italy, the slopes overlooking Lake Lugano have already burst into flower at least a fortnight earlier than usual.

But what, you may ask, has the early and welcome arrival of bees and blossom to do with food? Well, it is simply that the past winter, one of the mildest in living memory, has had its effect in other ways as well. Most important of all, it's resulted in an exceptionally heavy spaghetti crop.

The last two weeks of March are an anxious time for the spaghetti farmer. There is always the chance of a late frost which, while not entirely ruining the crop, generally impairs the flavour and makes it difficult for him to obtain top prices in world markets. But now these dangers are over and the spaghetti harvest goes forward.

Historic news footage of the Swiss spaghetti harvest

 
The full story about the Swiss spaghetti harvest of 1957 is located at the BBC website.

(Special thanks to Truffle Media for posting about this on Twitter)