Melissa Gurley, age 13, of Danville, Ill, for her question:

WHERE DO WE GET WHITE PEPPER?

Both black pepper and white pepper come from the same pepper plants. The secret is in knowing when to harvest the crop.

Black pepper comes mainly from the small clustered berries of a climbing pepper shrub that is native to India. It also is grown in tropical Asia, the East and West Indies and the Philippines.

The berries are gathered when red but not fully ripe. They turn black as they dry. They are then ground into black pepper or sold as whole peppercorns.

White pepper 1s lass strong in taste than black. It is usually prepared from fully ripened berries from which the outer coat is removed before the grinding operation is performed.

Today Singapore is a great exporting center for both white and black pepper. The United States offers an important market, since there is much demand for the spice as a food seasoning.