LAKELAND – Despite a second consecutive season of weather-induced production problems, Florida blueberry growers continue to ride the "blue wave."
"The industry calls it the 'blue wave.' Production will continue to grow and we're seeing demand keeping up with production," said Kathy Blake, a spokeswoman for U.S. Highbush Blueberry Council in Folsom, Calif., which sponsors industry-related research and marketing programs.
Blue tsunami is probably more accurate. In 1995, annual per capita consumption of blueberries in North America was just 15.5 ounces, Blake said.
Then a wave of publicity that labeled blueberries a "superfood" came in the late 1990s, following research by the late Jim Joseph, a human nutrition researcher at Tufts University in Boston, showing blueberries have the highest antioxidant levels among 40 common fruits and vegetables, she said. Anti-oxidants inhibit cell damage related to aging and diseases in the human body.
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