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See also: Cranberry Juice; Cranberry Bean
CRANBERRIES
The forecast for U.S. cranberry production in 2008 is 689 million pounds, up 5 percent from 2007 and slightly below 2006. Wisconsin is expected to lead all states in the production of cranberries, with 385 million pounds, followed by Massachusetts (190 million). New Jersey, Oregon and Washington are also expected to have substantial production, ranging from 15 million to 50 million pounds.
There are several theories as to the origin of the name 'cranberry.' One is that the open flowers look like the head of a crane; another is that cranes like to these sour berries.
Good, ripe cranberries will bounce. Bounceberry is another name for them
Small pockets of air inside the berry cause the cranberry to bounce. Air also causes berries to float in water.
Contrary to popular belief, cranberries do not grow in water. A perennial plant, cranberries grow on low-running vines in sandy bogs and marshes. Because cranberries float, some bogs are flooded when the fruit is ready for harvesting. Others are harvested using machines that resemble lawnmowers that "comb" fresh cranberries off the vines.
If you strung all the cranberries produced in North America in 2007, they would stretch from Boston to Los Angeles more than 565 times.
Native Americans pounded cranberries into a paste and mixed with dried meat, and called this mixture 'pemmican.'
One of the first references to cranberries was made in a letter written by Mahon Stacy to his brother in England dated April 26, 1680.
Cranberry juice was first made by American settlers in 1683.
American and Canadian sailors on long voyages knew they could eat cranberries to protect themselves from scurvy -- making them a cranberry counterpart to British 'limeys.'
The first cranberry sauce was marketed in 1912.
Americans consume some 400 million pounds of cranberries a year, 20 percent during Thanksgiving week.
Americans consume 5,062,500 gallons of jellied cranberry sauce every holiday season.
Jellied cranberry sauce (the log) is most preferred by consumers totaling 75% of overall cranberry sauce sales.
More than 94% of Thanksgiving dinners include cranberry sauce.
Cranberries are almost 90% water.
There are approximately 450 cranberries in a pound, 4,400 cranberries in one gallon of juice, 45,000 cranberries in a 100-pound barrel.
It takes about 200 cranberries to make one can of cranberry sauce.
The Cranberry was made the official state berry of Massachusetts in 1994
Some cranberry beds are over 100 years old and still producing.
About 95% of cranberries are processed into juice, sauce, dried, etc. Only about 5% are sold fresh.
In 1996, the worldwide cranberry harvest produced 40 cranberries for every person on the planet.
Honeybees are often used to pollinate cranberry crops, and are in fact more valuable in the performance of this task than they are in the production of honey.
John Lennon confirmed in a 1980 interview that he repeated the words Cranberry sauce at the end of the song Strawberry Fields Forever.
Cowberry, lingonberry, foxberry, mountain cranberry (Vaccinium vitis-idaea). This is an uncultivated member of the cranberry family and is primarily used in northern Europe to make jams & preserves.
About 38,000 acres in Wisconsin, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Oregon and Washington State account for most of the world’s production of cranberries.
Most of the world’s cranberries are cultivated on 37,000 acres in just five states: Massachusetts, Wisconsin, New Jersey, Oregon and Washington. Another 5,000 acres are cultivated in Provinces of British Columbia and Quebec Canada. Maine, Michigan and Minnesota also are experimenting with cranberry production.
Massachusetts is a leading producer of cranberries, with a crop of approximately 1.547 million barrels in 2001.
Of the approximately 1,000 cranberry growers in North America in 2001, 500 were in Massachusetts. Approximately 70 percent of these growers are small family farms with less than 20 acres of bog.
Cape Cod Cranberry Growers' Association www.cranberries.org
Over 110,000 metric tons of cranberries are produced in the U.S. each year. More than 1/3 of these are made into juice. Cranberries were first cultivated in Massachusetts around 1815. As of 2001, Wisconsin was the leading producer, followed by Massachusetts.
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