The delicious, healthful prune has long had a cross to bear: It’s best known for making people poop. In the late 1990s, the California Prune Board set out on a quixotic mission to amend this sales-flattening reputation. It would attempt to rechristen this ancient fruit in the hopes the prune could one day be as unencumbered as an apricot, a raisin, or a fig.&nbsp;In a world where every product and person increasingly believes it’s one good rebrand away from changing how they are seen, the story of the prune’s attempt to become the “dried plum” is a telling tale about the impossibility of escaping who you really are—and the freedom that comes with self-acceptance.&nbsp;You’ll hear from Richard Peterson, retired Executive Director of the California Prune Board; food writer and chef <a href="https://www.davidlebovitz.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">David Liebovitz</a>; lawyer and lobbyist Dan Haley; and Kiaran Locy, Director of Brand and Industry Communications at the <a href="https://californiaprunes.org/prune-board/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">California Prune Board</a>.This episode was written by Willa Paskin. It was edited by Evan Chung, our supervising producer. It was produced by Katie Shepherd. Decoder Ring is also produced by Max Freedman. Merritt Jacob is Senior Technical Director.If you have any cultural mysteries you want us to decode, email us at <a href="mailto:DecoderRing@slate.com" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">DecoderRing@slate.com</a> or leave a message on our hotline at (347) 460-7281.Sources for This EpisodeBarry, Dave. <a href="https://www.davebarry.com/book-page.php?isbn13=9780345432483" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Dave Barry Hits Below the Beltway</a>, Ballantine Books, 2002.&nbsp;Brasher, Philip. “<a href="https://abcnews.com/Health/story?id=117656&page=1" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">FDA Approves Prune Name Change</a>,” ABC News, Feb. 1, 2001.&nbsp;Brasher, Philip. “<a href="https://www.seattlepi.com/national/article/where-s-the-beef-kids-give-prune-burgers-the-1078737.php" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Where's the beef? Kids give prune burgers the taste test</a>,” Associated Press, Jan 29, 2002.&nbsp;Cimons, Marlene. “<a href="https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1999-dec-21-mn-46170-story.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">A New Wrinkle for the Prune Industry</a>,” Los Angeles Times, Dec. 21, 1999.Crespi, John M., Harry M. Kaiser, Julian M. Alston, and&nbsp; Richard J. Sexton. “<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Economics-Commodity-Promotion-Programs-California/dp/0820472719" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">The Evaluation of Prune Promotion by the California Dried Plum Board</a>,” The Economics of Commodity Promotion Programs: Lessons from California, Peter Lang USA, 2005.&nbsp;Davis, Glenn. “<a href="https://teachers.yale.edu/curriculum/units/2015/3/4" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">French History in Your City: San Jose, California - the Pellier Brothers</a>,” Yale National Initiative, Sep. 2015.&nbsp;Fabricant, Florence. “<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2001/10/31/dining/in-france-the-prune-holds-a-noble-station.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">In France, the Prune Holds a Noble Station</a>,” The New York Times, Oct. 31, 2001.Fabricant, Florence. <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2000/08/13/business/responsible-party-richard-peterson-rejuvenating-the-humble-prune.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">“Responsible Party: Richard Peterson; Rejuvenating The Humble Prune</a>,” The New York Times, Aug. 13, 2000.&nbsp;Fabricant, Florence. <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1983/10/12/garden/underappreciated-the-humble-prune.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">“Underapprecaited: The Humble Prune</a>,” The New York Times, Oct. 12, 1983.<a href="https://archive.org/details/0008_Fortune_in_Two_Old_Trunks_A_08_26_20_00" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">A Fortune In Two Old Trunks</a>. Sunsweet, 1947.&nbsp;&nbsp;Fullan, Genevieve. “<a href="https://www.eater.com/23169866/prunes-fruit-explainer-dried-fruit" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">In Defense of Prunes</a>,” Eater, Jun 21, 2022.&nbsp;Gellene, Denise. “<a href="https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1997-oct-16-fi-43247-story.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">New Wrinkle in an Old Story</a>,” Los Angeles Times, Oct 16, 1997.&nbsp;<a href="https://archive.org/details/GoodWrin1951" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Good Wrinkles</a>. Sunsweet, 1951.&nbsp;Kamen, Al. “<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/magazine/1999/12/12/sunday-in-the-loop/3047b7bc-517b-4ad2-8f45-18ba41dcd40d/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Sunday in the Loop: Plum Outta Luck</a>,” Washington Post, Dec. 11, 1999.&nbsp;Koger, Chris. “<a href="https://www.thepacker.com/news/retail/dried-plums-no-longer-california-prunes-have-new-brand" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Dried plums no longer: California prunes have new brand</a>,” The Packer, Nov. 15, 2022.&nbsp;Lucas, Greg. “<a href="https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/who-d-have-thought-pruneburgers-juicy-tender-2915998.php" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Who'd Have Thought? Pruneburgers / Juicy, tender and low-fat, they're surprising hits in school cafeterias</a>,” San Francisco Chronicle, Aug. 9, 1999.Martin, Ronda Beaman. <a href="https://ttu-ir.tdl.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/07e10912-7a69-4a57-80c2-dd61231a0f74/content" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">“Stan Freberg—His Credits and Contributions to Advertising</a>,” M.A. Thesis, Texas Tech University, Dec. 1986.&nbsp;McKay, Leonard. “<a href="https://www.sanjoseinside.com/news/louis_pellier/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Louis Pellier</a>,” San Jose Inside, Sep. 25, 2006.Morse, Rob. “<a href="https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/hold-the-prunes-hold-the-lettuce-3073691.php" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Hold the prunes, hold the lettuce</a>,” San Francisco Examiner, July 28, 1999.&nbsp;“<a href="https://www.cnn.com/2000/FOOD/news/09/13/prunes.reut/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Prune gets $10 million makeover -- as dried plum</a>,” CNN, Sep. 13, 2000.Rao, Tejal. “<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/16/magazine/in-praise-of-the-prune.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">In Praise of the Prune</a>,” The New York Times Magazine, Feb. 16, 2017.Roach, Mary. “<a href="https://www.salon.com/1999/11/05/prunes/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">The power of prunes</a>,” Salon, Nov. 5, 1999.Waters, Michael. “<a href="https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/fruit-burgers-prunes-school-lunches" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">When the Dried Plum Lobby Tried to Make Pruneburgers Happen</a>,” Atlas Obscura, April 13, 2018.&nbsp;Zasky, Jason. “<a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20201109042347/http://failuremag.com/article/prunes-turning-over-a-new-leaf" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Prunes: Turning Over a New Leaf</a>,” Failure Magazine, Apr. 16, 2002.<hr> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.

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