I’m a big fan of blueberries. I easily go through a container a week by putting them in oatmeal, yogurt, and for the jelly portion of a PB&J. Because we get our blueberries from different locations, based on the seasons, I have come to a conclusion about locally grown blueberries versus imported blueberries.
First off, for obvious reasons, imported blueberries are much more expensive. Currently, a 4.4 ounce container costs about $4. During the summer, I can get two six ounce containers (that’s 12 ounces total for the mathematically challenged) for about $5.
While you can get more blueberries for the money from a local farmer, the interesting thing is that the blueberries from Chile are better quality. In that I mean that proportionally, there are less “bad” berries in the container. I assume this is due to the importing process. If each blueberry costs money to transport, they are going to weed out the bad ones so they don’t lose money shipping them. Local farmers are less apt to do that because a few bad ones in a container does not lose them any money.
Another note…the berries from Chile and bigger, plumper and…um…blander. While they look and burst great, they just don’t taste like a blueberry. I can’t wait for the spring to kick in so I can start getting my blueberries from Hammonton, NJ, the “Blueberry Capitol of the World”.
