--- title: Asparagus Carried by Drone Explodes description: Spoiler alert: Explosions canonical: https://time.com/3814151/asparagus-drone-fire-explosion/ author: Laura Stampler article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-04-08T20:00:44.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T04:47:46.387Z og:title: Here's Why We Shouldn't Deliver Asparagus by Drone og:description: Spoiler alert: Explosions og:url: https://time.com/3814151/asparagus-drone-fire-explosion/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Here's Why We Shouldn't Deliver Asparagus by Drone twitter:description: Spoiler alert: Explosions twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # Here's Why Asparagus Is Yet Another Thing We Should Not Deliver by Drone by [Laura Stampler](https://time.com/author/laura-stampler/) ## Laura Stampler Apr 8, 2015 8:00 PM UTC by [Laura Stampler](https://time.com/author/laura-stampler/) ## Laura Stampler Apr 8, 2015 8:00 PM UTC In the not-so-distant future, your dinner will probably be delivered straight to the window of your fifth floor apartment via drone. Amazon is [fighting](http://www.wsj.com/articles/l-gordon-crovitz-amazons-drones-exiled-to-canada-1428270643) with the FAA for the ability to test drone grocery deliveries, but drones have also been used less formally to delivery everything from [burritos](http://time.com/2981749/8-of-the-weirdest-ways-people-are-using-drones/) to [pizza](http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/india/10848680/Indian-restaurant-uses-aerial-drone-to-deliver-pizza-to-skyscraper.html) to [champagne](http://t.co/CGgfIZuXS8) to… [asparagus](http://www.dutchnews.nl/news/archives/2015/04/dutch-drone-delivering-asparagus-crashes-onto-country-road/). According to [Dutch News](http://www.dutchnews.nl/news/archives/2015/04/dutch-drone-delivering-asparagus-crashes-onto-country-road/), restauranteur Ronald Peijnenburg decided to celebrate asparagus season by using a drone to deliver the vegetable from the countryside to his Michelin-starred [Netherlands restaurant](http://www.restaurant-dezwaan.nl/index). (He had previously delivered asparagus via Formula 1 cars and hot air balloons). But a video chronicling his attempted delivery shows a con of drones: Sometimes they crash and burn. Between this and that one time a promotional drone in a TGI Friday’s accidentally lost control and [cut off the tip of someone’s nose](http://time.com/3624191/tgi-fridays-seasonal-mistletoe-drone-literally-cut-off-part-of-someones-nose/), can we maybe agree drones and the restaurant industry might not be a great fit? ### Drone Country: See America From Above  House boats appear next to the shoreline of Bidwell Canyon on Lake Oroville in Northern California on November 25, 2014\. Lake Oroville is California's second largest reservoir, and is currently 70% empty as a result of the state's severe drought. Tomas van Houtryve—VII  Campers appear in an RV park in Fernley, Nevada on November 25, 2014\. The nearby Amazon Fulfillment Center recruits people living out of RVs to work on the floor of their warehouse during peak holiday shipping season. Many of the campers are senior citizens whose homes or savings were wiped out by the 2008 economic crisis. Tomas van Houtryve—VII  A parking lot for an Amazon fulfillment center appears in New Jersey on November 11, 2014. Tomas van Houtryve—VII/Pulitzer Center  A residential apartment complex appears in Poughkeepsie, New York on November 9, 2014. Tomas van Houtryve—VII/Pulitzer Center  Vacation homes appear on the New Jersey Shore on November 11, 2014. Tomas van Houtryve—VII/Pulitzer Center  An empty drive-in movie theater appears in Poughkeepsie, New York on November 9, 2014. Tomas van Houtryve—VII/Pulitzer Center  A farm house and field appear outside Trenton, New Jersey on November 11, 2014. Tomas van Houtryve—VII/Pulitzer Center  Cows gather for water and alfalfa distributed by a rancher in a drought-devastated pasture in Merced County, California on November 26, 2014\. As with many areas of the Central Valley of California, these cows would not be able to survive without this kind of supplemental nutrition. Tomas van Houtryve—VII  A run-down neighborhood appears in North Camden, New Jersey on November 23, 2014\. In 2012, the FBI ranked Camden as having the most violent crime per capita of any American city with a population of over 50,000\. The local police installed millions of dollars of surveillance equipment in residential neighborhoods, including cameras and microphones that detect the exact location of gunshots. Tomas van Houtryve—VII  Horse stalls appear near Fernley, Nevada on November 24, 2014. Tomas van Houtryve—VII  A swamp appears near Brookfield, Connecticut on November 8, 2014. Tomas van Houtryve—VII/Pulitzer Center  Beachfront vacation units appear on Cape Cod, Massachusetts on Nov. 7, 2014. Tomas van Houtryve—VII/Pulitzer Center  The USS New Jersey, a decommissioned battleship, appears on the Delaware river off Camden, New Jersey on November 23, 2014. Tomas van Houtryve—VII  A college campus appears in Poughkeepsie, New York on November 9, 2014. Tomas van Houtryve—VII/Pulitzer Center  Lacrosse players warm up before practice in Clark County, Nevada on January 20, 2014\. The nearby Creech Air Force is the main command center for overseas drone strikes. Tomas van Houtryve—VII/Pulitzer Center  Wiggins Park Marina appears in Camden, New Jersey on November 23, 2014. 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