Try It! How Frieda Caplan Changed the Way We Eat

Frieda Caplan worked at Los Angeles’s Seventh Street produce market in the 1950s and wondered about fruits and vegetables that were not commonly sold nearby. She introduced unfamiliar produce to customers, beginning with mushrooms, and offered ideas for preparing it. Her curiosity led her to try items such as kiwis, jicama, cherimoyas, black radishes, dragonfruit, and lychees before encouraging others to sample them. Later, her daughters joined her work, helping expand supermarket produce choices across the United States.