In the fall of 1918, as influenza spread across the globe and the world clamored for a cure, the price of lemons skyrocketed. From Rome to Rio to Boston, residents desperate for any small measure of protection hoarded the yellow fruit, which was said—by whom it was, even then, unclear—to be both a prophylactic and a remedy for the deadly virus. Newspaper articles promised the citrus was a “flu foe,” and announced “lemon sucking now hailed by science as influenza cure.” It wasn’t true, of course, but the story was still good news for one segment of the population: California’s lemon farmers.
role: Author outlet: Gastro Obscura publication date: May 2020 category:History
