Finally a political action in which everyone can happily participate. I'm not asking you call your Senator so you can get a canned response from a 22 year old staffer. I'm not asking you to write a sternly worded letter that can be filed in the local paper's editor's recycle bin. I'm not even asking you to put one more piece of flair on your Facebook page.
All I'm asking you to do is: GO EAT SOME CRANBERRIES.
And if you need someone to endorse this cause before you sign-on, follow me below the fold and explain what Senator Elizabeth Warren is already doing and how you can help.
Cranberries are native only to North America and commercially grown in the US and Canada. Native Americans used them for everything from food, to wound treatments to dye for fabric and leather. They called them Sassamanash and the Algonquin people introduced them to English settlers in Massachusetts, which is why most of us associate them with Thanksgiving dinner.
In the US, Cranberries are grown primarily in 5 (BLUE) states. Wisconsin is the number one producer, with Massachusetts not far behind. Together these two states produce 85% of our cranberry harvest, with the other 15% coming from New Jersey, Oregon and Washington. (Maine also kicks in a little bit, but its not a huge operation)
Back in 2007, there was a push to start expanding production. Plant new acres! Make new Bogs! Ocean Spray laid out a number of recommendations for production targets their co-op farmers should work to achieve.
So here's the good news: 2012 was the biggest Cranberry harvest EVER! The US produced 402,000 tons of Cranberries. YAY!!!
But here's the bad news: 2012 was the biggest Cranberry harvest EVER! ....and the global recession is hurting demand, the overseas markets are not taking off (The Chinese do not even have a word for "Cranberry") and there is now a massive glut on the market driving prices down.
(And if you think our harvest was impressive, Canada SHATTERED every record on the books with thier 2012 yield, which is flooding the market even more.)
Ocean Spray farmers are doing better then others because of how that company runs its ownership co-operative and distributed profits. But for the rest....
Farmers who don't belong to the Ocean Spray cooperative are getting $22 to $28 per 100 pounds for a fall crop that cost them $25 to $30 per 100 pounds to grow, Lochner said. Prices for the 2013 crop could drop as low as $15 to $18 per 100 pounds if nothing is done, he said.
To help alleviate this glut, the representatives from these states
reached out to the USDA:
In March, a group of 14 U.S. Senators and Representatives, including Senators Warren and Cowan, and Congressmen McGovern, Keating, and Kennedy, signed a letter asking Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack to purchase cranberry concentrate to support local cranberry growers
And Vilsack responded. The USDA is purchasing over
$5 million worth of Cranberry Concentrate to distribute through federal food assistance programs and school lunches.
Says Ms. Warren:
"I'm pleased the USDA has announced plans to buy cranberry products for federal nutrition assistance programs," said Senator Warren. "This purchase will help support hardworking cranberry growers throughout Massachusetts who play an important role in our local economy and will provide our children with another drink alternative."
And that's great. Cranberries are a great source of Vitamin C and almost unequaled in their ORAC rating (Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity). Cranberry juice (if you drink 300ml per day) serves as an inhibitor in bacterial adhesion to the bladder and urinary tract (this is
not a myth). Its also a good drink for Type 2 diabetics.
So while the USDA move and Senator Warren's support is great, to quote Tom Lochner, executive director of the Wisconsin State Cranberry Growers Association:
We need to move some fruit.
So let's go folks... hard working American farmers across a handful of our Blue states are sitting on a over-supply of a delicious fruit.
Until I hear about a vast global over-production of Guinness that requires us all to drink extra free pints every day, this is as awesome of a Politcal Call to Action as I can imagine.
Pick up some cranberry products at the grocery store this weekend. Work some cranberries into your meal planning for next week. And its not just breakfast juice! Combine the juice with some shallots, red wine vinegar, orange peel, brown sugar and cracked black pepper for a delicious marinade. Dried cranberries make a great addition to a nice summer salad. Frozen cranberries can be blended into an awesomely tart smoothie. Fresh Cranberries would make a delicious chutney or stuff for a nice pork dish.
The possibilities are endless.
Free mojo to anyone who can post a Cranberry recipe!