The Pride of Washington...Blueberries!
Apparently blueberries are quite the booming business. Lynda V. Mapes of The Seattle Times reports:
The state's blueberry crop surged to $30 million in 2006, compared with $16 million just two years ago — and a meager $7,769 a decade ago. Acreage harvested has more than doubled to 3,400 acres, and some experts predict another doubling in five years.Good news! Because according to Dr. Fuhrman, blueberries are a real super food. From One of Nature's Best Foods:
The reason?
"We call it the health halo," said Dave Brazelton of Fall Creek Farm and Nursery in Lowell, Ore., the world's largest blueberry nursery, where the wait can be up to 18 months for new plantings of the hottest varieties.
Brazelton has watched blueberries boom as reports of the berry's health benefits have multiplied. From improving urinary-tract health to packing a powerful punch of antioxidants, blueberries are often touted as a superfood.
So growers are enjoying both rising production and prices, a double marvel that in agriculture is like defying the law of gravity.
Native to North America, blueberries have been part of the human diet for more than 13,000 years, long before being formally recognized for their healthy and anti-cancer effects Blueberries are among the best foods you can eat, and I recommend eating them everyday. I have created easy healthy recipes, diet recipes, smoothie recipes – using blueberries, soy milk, ground flax seed, and other natural foods – that give my patients a variety of ways to enjoy this wonderful fruit.
Since blueberries contain flavanoids and other specific phytochemicals that help protect against vascular instability, I instruct my diabetes and heart disease patients to eat fresh blueberries every day and to eat frozen blueberries in the wintertime.
