Local blueberry season is upon us. Blueberries, those nutritionally hip superfruits, are filled with things like antioxidants, flavonols, and tannins. Their myriad potential benefits involve cancer, aging, urinary tract infections, strokes, heart disease and blood pressure. So load up on the delicious treats and eat them by the handful with no hesitation.
Native to North America, true blueberries grow wild only on the eastern coast and in north central North America. Imposters, like bilberries and huckleberries, can be identified by their purplish interiors, unlike the white or greenish insides of a blueberry. In 1916, blueberry pioneer Elizabeth Coleman White produced the “commercial” variety, after years of paying wild blueberry pickers to bring her plants that had especially large fruit. Now the berries are grown in many regions of the world. In the United States, 25 percent come from Maine, where 50,000 beehives must be trucked in each year for pollination purposes.
We’re lucky to live in a region rolling in blueberries that don’t involve trucking beehives across state lines. Look for North Carolina blueberries in our stores right now!