Crowberry: another indigenous Alaskan (i.e., North American) species. This one isn't yet ripe.
Much though I appreciate the Glycemic Index Newsletter, & all the GI people behind it, I wish they would be a little less lax about their inaccuracy about how many species of berry are native to the North American continent, which I reported a few days ago.
They say there are only three berries native to the U.S.: wild blueberry, cranberry, & Concord grape. And of course the only wild blueberries they recognized were the ones that grow in the northeast U.S. and eastern Canada. Never mind the blueberries that grow in the alpine tundra of such places as, say, the Chugach Mountains of Alaska just outside Anchorage, where I live.
I wrote them a comment about this inaccuracy, & someone else suggested that the GI Group test the GI of the “new” berries I mentioned.
To which I replied:
Well, I wouldn’t expect them to GI test every berry native to North America. The point I want to make is simply that their statement that Wild blueberries are one of three berries native to North America – the others are cranberry and Concord grapes. is wildly inaccurate — there are many more indigenous species of plants with berries, including edible berries, than that.
I will mention also that there is a wild blueberry which grows in alpine tundra in the Chugach Mountains right here in Alaska that is probably different than the blueberry species mentioned in the article. Given that these blueberries have that same blue pigment, & so do Montana huckleberries (& no doubt other species of huckleberries native to other parts of North America), and so do crowberries, they are also probably really beneficial.
Which is good, because we like to go up into the mountains in the fall & pick them.
A couple of days passed, & finally the GI Group answered:
Thanks for all the information on berries — we will try and make use of it in our next berry story. We really appreciate your taking the time to share your knowledge and post your comments.
This is nice, I suppose… but in the story itself, they are permitting the inaccuracy to stand.
Or might they run a correction in their May issue? Here’s hoping.
