THE COLOR RED

Were it not for a friend brain-washing me into reading Victoria Finley’s book, Color, A Natural history of the Palette, I would have overlooked an article in the Los Angeles Times, dated May 26, 2007. Sam Enriquez’s article, “A long-tended dream is open for business” tells about a project started by the women of Oaxaca, pronounced Wa-har-ka, Mexico. This city is located well down in the southwest corner, about 50 miles inland from the Pacific Ocean.

The collective determination of 160 women took six years and $1.4 million to begin production in a factory that will eventually produce 20 tons per year of nopal for sale in California and other U.S. states. You may know nopal by its more common name, prickly pear. Catalina Sanchez, one of the co-founders, said the main purpose is not making money selling the Mena brand nopal to expatriates. They miss the tang of chopped Mexican cactus leaves in a vinegary marinade. This is one of the early efforts to create jobs for husbands and sons so that they will stay home rather than seek jobs north of the border. Twenty-five per cent of the money came from money sent home by their men; $900,000 came from Mexican federal funds; the rest from foundation grants and state government. Workers abroad currently provide over $20 billion annually, a potential resource for similar projects.

Now to the connection with Finley’s book. Explanation of the origin of the color, Red, begins on page 134. For thousands of years, one of the best sources of red came from the cochineal beetle that relies upon nopal as its food source. Use of the color obtained from the cochineal in modern times includes lipstick and other women’s cosmetics, dye for cloth and too many other uses to mention, except for one; the color additive E120, included in making Coca Cola’s Cherry Coke. So who says, "Have a Cherry Coke, get your fill of beetle blood!"?