Davis: The Bicycle Capital of America

Abstract

Tasteless tomatoes? Blame Davis. Or, more specifically, the food science faculty at the University of California, Davis. Founded as an agricultural research station in 1907, UC Davis was where, in the mid-1960s, plant breeder Jack Hanna and engineer Coby Lorenzen created “vf-145,” a tomato bred tough to survive mechanical harvesting. Tough, but bland. The development revolutionized the ketchup industry and put UC Davis on the map. Unlike Sacramento, twelve miles to the west, the flat and sleepy town of Davis still had a cycling culture in the early 1960s, but with a growing influx of students, and their cars, this culture came under threat.

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world.”

—American anthropologist Margaret Mead