Health Benefits of Cherries
600 Very Cherry Recipes: “Many have testified that tart cherries or cherry juice helps relieve arthritis or gout.”
The April ’99 edition of Fruit Growers News: “While the researchers at MSU are continuing to unlock the health secrets of tart cherries, the research to date is getting national attention. Recently there have been articles in newspapers and consumer magazines, plus a spot on a Paul Harvey radio broadcast. Trade Publications also are picking up on the research. E-mail from CMI’s website shows keen consumer interest in this topic. Here is the current info on the research. The same chemicals that give tart cherries their color may relieve pain better than aspirin and ibuprofen. Cherries may provide antioxidant protection comparable to commercially available supplements, such as vitamin E and vitamin C. Eating about 20 tart cherries per day could reduce inflammatory pain and benefit the consumer with antioxidant protection. Twenty tart cherries contain 12 to 25 milligrams of active antioxidant compounds. If eating a bowl of cherries isn’t always practical, a cherry pill, made from tart cherries, may be available in the future.”
Fun Facts about Cherries
Michigan produces 70 to 75 percent of the tart cherries grown in the United States; Utah grows about 10 percent of the crop; Wisconsin, about 5 percent. (New York, 10 percent; Pennsylvania, 5 percent; there also are small crops of tart cherries in Oregon and Washington.) The amount of tart cherries produced each year varies, depending on a number of factors, including the age of the trees and weather conditions. Generally Michigan produces 200 to 250 million pounds of tart cherries; the U.S. crop is 250 to 300 million pounds. The 1997 tart cherry crop was 220 million pounds for Michigan; 279 million pounds nationally. The quality of this year’s crop is excellent. The 1996 tart cherry crop was 195 million pounds for Michigan and 264 million pounds nationally. In 1995, 250 million pounds of tart cherries were processed in Michigan with a national crop of 310 million pounds. In 1994, Michigan harvested 210 million pounds of tart cherries; the total tart cherry production for the U. S. was 288 million pounds. There are 36,000 acres of tart cherry trees in Michigan; about 55,000 acres nationwide.
The major variety of tart cherry grown in the United States is the Montmorency. It has been cultivated in the United States for more than a century because the fruit is excellent for pies, preserves, jellies, juice and other products. However, horticulturists are continually working on improved cherry varieties. Tart cherries, which are sometimes called pie cherries or sour cherries, are seldom sold fresh; they generally are canned or frozen shortly after harvesting for use in many different kinds of products throughout the year.
Sweet cherries primarily are grown in the Pacific Coast states, but Michigan joins the top four producers, harvesting about 20 percent of the crop each year. Sweet cherry varieties grown in Michigan include Emperor Francis, Napoleon and Schmidt. The Bing variety of sweet cherry is not grown in Michigan. The Schmidt variety, however, is similar to the Bing variety. Most of Michigan’s sweet cherries are processed; many of them were used for maraschino cherries.
Although a cherry tree can grow almost anywhere, the quantity and quality of its fruit depend on specific climatic conditions. That’s why Michigan orchards are concentrated along Lake Michigan, where the lake tempers Arctic winds in winter and cools the orchards in summer. The sandy soil and rolling hills along Michigan’s western shore also are contributing factors in the orchards’ productivity. In Wisconsin, the orchards are concentrated in Door County, which juts out into Lake Michigan and offers similar growing conditions as in Michigan. The tart cherry orchards in Utah flourish under slightly different growing conditions. The orchards are located just east of Salt Lake City. In Michigan, tart cherries are grown from Benton Harbor to Elk Rapids with Traverse City (and the Grand Traverse Region) serving as the heart of cherry country. Most of Michigan’s sweet cherry production is concentrated in the Grand Traverse Region.
Both tart and sweet cherries ripen in July; the third week of July is usually the peak of the harvest. Most tart cherries are mechanically harvested, using a shaker to drop the fruit onto canvases where they flow into elevators and are placed in tanks of water. Sweet cherries that are to be marketed fresh are picked by hand.
The Extraordinary History of Cherries
European settlers had hardly stepped on the soil of the New World before they began planting cherry trees. Early French colonists from Normandy brought pits that they planted along the Saint Lawrence River and the Great Lakes. Cherry trees were part of the gardens of French settlers as they established such cities as Detroit, Vincennes, and other Midwestern settlements. Peter Dougherty, a Presbyterian missionary, is credited with planting the first cherry orchard and, in essence, getting the cherry industry started as a commercial enterprise in the Midwest. Against the advice of local Indians who had grown other fruits in the area, Dougherty planted a cherry orchard in 1852 on the Old Mission Peninsula. This peninsula is a narrow strip of land that juts out into Grand Traverse Bay near Traverse City, Michigan. Much to the surprise of the Indians and others, Dougherty’s cherry trees flourished and soon other residents of the area planted trees. The area proved to be ideal for growing cherries because Grand Traverse Bay and nearby Lake Michigan help to temper Arctic winds in winter and cool the orchards in summer.
The first commercial cherry orchard was planted in 1893 on Ridgewood Farm near the site of Dougherty’s original plantings. By the early 1900s, the tart cherry industry was firmly established and production surpassed other major crops. The first cherry processing facility, Traverse City Canning Company, was built just south of Traverse City, and the ruby-red fruit was soon shipped to Chicago, Detroit and Milwaukee. Today, there are about 36,000 acres of cherry trees in Michigan. About 40 percent of the cherry orchards are in the Grand Traverse Region. Traverse City, in the heart of the region, has been dubbed the “Cherry Capital of the World.” Michigan leads the nation in the production of tart cherries, harvesting about three-fourths of the U.S. crop. Commercial orchards dot the state along Lake Michigan from Benton Harbor to the Elk Rapids area. Wisconsin, Utah, New York, Pennsylvania, Oregon and Washington also have commercial tart cherry orchards. In celebration of the fruit that grows so well in the Grand Traverse Region, a spring ceremony known as the “Blessing of the Blossoms” was initiated in 1924. This event eventually became the National Cherry Festival, which is held in Traverse City each year in July and attracts visitors from all over the world to this land of rolling hills, sky blue waters, and cherries.
Other Cherry Related Sites
Cherry Marketing Institute – consumer cherry facts, nutrition information and menu ideas, including frozen and dried cherries.
National Cherry Festival – lots of cherry food, fun, and events in Traverse City, MI