Partner Article

Oregon's battle for the berry

A proposal to name the marionberry as the official berry of the USA’s state of Oregon has been shot down by a grower of a rival berry type.

According to the BBC, a local newspaper said the resolution was removed from the state legislature’s agenda at the request of a blackberry farmer, Larry Duyck. Raspberry, blueberry and strawberry growers had all supported the proposal, but Mr Duyck was worried that the marionberry would be given an unfair edge over his type of blackberries.

“It would be like if the state of Oregon declared the Chevrolet its car,” said Mr Duyck, who grows kotata blackberries. “What does that do to the other automakers?”

The Oregon Raspberry and Blackberry Commission withdrew its support for the legislation, not wanting to upset Mr Duyck, the Oregonian reported.

Vicki Berger, who led the proposal, said: “In this climate of serious issues, I am not going to go to bat over internal disputes in the berry community. One would think this would be easy. Nothing in this process is easy. Ever.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .