Flip over a box of juicy Palisades Peaches and you'll find a friendly 9/11 conspiracy rant emblazoned on the cardboard. Visit their website — maybe you want to find out some details about the petting farm at their Colorado orchard — and you'll be greeted by a banner that declares "Palisade Produce supports an honest investigation into the 911 terrorist attacks."
In an interview with the local NBC affiliate, Palisades Produce owner David Cox admitted that it was hard to balance his commitment to juicy peaches and his commitment to 9/11 trutherism … but that some things are just worth the sacrifice:
"This is something that is definitely costing me dearly, but it's something that I believe wholeheartedly," Cox said. "I'm definitely going to push it all the way to the end."
According to the Palisade Produce website, the family operation was first established in 2005. For years, 9NEWS viewers have been sending us photos of the conspiracy theories on the boxes.
So, Kyle Clark gave Cox a call.
Cox admitted that he's facing felony marijuana charges – something he said is government retribution for his 9/11 trutherism.
For what it's worth, he said it's much easier to grow weed than Palisade peaches.
"A lot more people do it," he said. "It's definitely easier to grow weed."
Curiously, all of the 9/11-related links on the grower's website — of which there are several! — are 404'd. There's nothing on the Internet Archive, either. Even the URL printed on the bottom of the peach boxes leads to a dead-end. Which really makes you wonder … how deep does the peach conspiracy go?