I had the opportunity to go to Italy this past September. While there, I feel in love with figs. It wasn't until the last week there that a kind person in our group informed me that she didn't eat figs because of how they are pollinated. I didn't think much about it until I was watching the food network today with my mom and saw some figs on TV then thought to look up the fig pollination process. This is the information that I have gathered -
Edible figs are pollinated by fig wasps. There are two types of figs, a male fig and a female fig. Fig wasps themselves are born inside of the male fig because this type of fig has a place for the babies to house. The only way for a fig to become a fig is by being pollinated by a fig wasp. If a female fig wasp goes into a female fig to try to lay her eggs, she will die inside of the fig. The reason for this is because she loses her wings on the way inside the fig so she has no way to get out. Meaning, each fig must be pollinated by a fig wasp and once the fig wasp enters the fig, they can't get out.
So - what I am trying to tell you is this: every single fig we eat is guaranteed to have at least one dead fig wasp inside of it.
GROSS!
