| WHEREAS
blueberries are a native North American fruit, first used fresh and
dried in food and medicines by Native Americans who introduced them to
early colonists which led to new uses in pies, cobblers and puddings
as well as dried for winter storage, establishing traditions still
observed today; WHEREAS
the pioneering work conducted in New Jersey by Elizabeth White and Dr.
Frederick Coville in the early 1900's to domesticate wild highbush
blueberries resulted in the development of the hybrid for cultivated
blueberries;
WHEREAS because of these early
efforts, highbush blueberries are large, sweet, juicy berries that
have become an important U.S. agricultural industry, with a harvested
area now estimated at more than 46,000 acres and produced in 35 states
by more than 2,000 growers and their families;
WHEREAS highbush blueberry
production in the United States has continually increased, with
particular growth in the past two decades, to reach a harvest of 232.2
million pounds in 2004;
WHEREAS blueberries are highly
versatile, low in calories and fat and a source of fiber and vitamin
C, ranked high in disease-fighting antioxidants, and a health-giving
option to achieve the recommendation to consume several servings of
fruit each day under the Dietary Guidelines for Americans;
WHEREAS highbush blueberries
are harvested from mid-August through early October with the harvest
reaching its peak in July;
WHEREAS, to promote the
greater appreciation and use of highbush blueberries, I Mike Johanns,
Secretary of Agriculture of the United States of America, do hereby
proclaim the month of July 2005 "National Blueberry Month" and call
upon all citizens to recognize and celebrate the highbush blueberry
with appropriate ceremonies and activities.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto
set my hand this 22nd day of June 2005, the two-hundred twenty-ninth
year of the independence of the United States of America.
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