Cranberries are one of a handful of American native fruits that have successfully been commercialized. Today cranberry demand is soar ing. Like the Concord grape and a few select other foods, cranberries contain tannin compounds that appear highly beneficial to coronary health. They are also a proven aid in fighting off urinary tract infections, an affliction that up to one in four American women has to contend with at some point in her life. And as interest in healthy foods continues to rise, so does demand for cranberry juice and fruit.
Cranberries have a long history as a health aid.
When Europeans first arrived in this area they found the Indians using a food called pemmican as a winter supplement. Pemmican included dried meat, fat, corn and dried cranberries. To avoid scurvy, the early settlers followed the Indians example. However, traditional methods of growing cranberries, which involve flooding the fields, harvesting and then floating the berries to collect them with machines, damage much of the fruit, so most cranberries now go for juice or concentrate. To raise profitability, the Oswego Cranberry Co. has developed new mechanized dry harvest techniques, which protect fruit quality and still allow for efficient picking.