Title: A resolution recognizing the importance of the blueberry industry to the United States and designating July 2020 as "National Blueberry Month".
Policy area: Agriculture and Food

Summary:
This resolution (1) designates July 2020 as National Blueberry Month; and (2) recognizes the contributions of blueberry growers in the United States and their families, and that purchasing blueberries grown in the United States supports farmers, jobs, and the economy of the United States.

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 528 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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116th CONGRESS
  2d Session
S. RES. 528

  Recognizing the importance of the blueberry industry to the United 
   States and designating July 2020 as ``National Blueberry Month''.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             March 4, 2020

Ms. Stabenow submitted the following resolution; which was referred to 
                     the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
  Recognizing the importance of the blueberry industry to the United 
   States and designating July 2020 as ``National Blueberry Month''.

Whereas the blueberry is a fruit native to North America that was first used 
        fresh and dried in food and medicines by Native Americans, who 
        introduced blueberries to early colonists, which led to new uses and 
        forms of blueberries, including frozen, establishing traditions still 
        observed in 2020;
Whereas the pioneering work conducted in New Jersey in the early 1900s by 
        Elizabeth White and Dr. Frederick Coville, a botanist at the Department 
        of Agriculture, to domesticate wild lowbush blueberries resulted in the 
        development of the hybrid for cultivated highbush blueberries;
Whereas, because of those early efforts, highbush blueberries are large, sweet, 
        juicy berries that can be commercially produced and shipped, allowing 
        the highbush blueberry industry to become an important agricultural 
        industry in the United States;
Whereas highbush blueberries--

    (1) have a harvested area estimated at more than 97,000 acres; and

    (2) are produced in 48 States by more than 14,000 growers and their 
families;

Whereas highbush blueberry production in the United States has continually 
        increased, with particular growth during the first 2 decades of the 21st 
        century, reaching a harvest of 551,100,000 pounds in 2018;
Whereas blueberries are--

    (1) low in fat; and

    (2) a source of fiber, vitamins, and minerals;

Whereas blueberries are being studied to examine the role that the berries may 
        play in promoting good health in areas such as cardiovascular health, 
        brain health, exercise, insulin response, and gut health; and
Whereas highbush blueberries are harvested in the United States from April 
        through early September, with the peak of the harvest occurring in July: 
        Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the Senate--
            (1) designates July 2020 as ``National Blueberry Month'';
            (2) recognizes the contributions of blueberry growers in 
        the United States and their families; and
            (3) recognizes that purchasing blueberries grown in the 
        United States supports farmers, jobs, and the economy of the 
        United States.
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