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In a BDN article published Sept. 15 (“With less rain, blueberry growers face an expensive predicament”), a farmer who has been running a small blueberry farm for 26 years wonders if 50 years from now wild blueberry plants can survive Maine’s changing climate. Wild blueberries, native to Maine, have grown here for thousands of years, and yet recently farms are struggling with lower yields due to seasonal temperature shifts and drought. Four-hundred-and-eighty-five Maine blueberry farms (mostly small) supply 99 percent of all the blueberries in the United States.
Every morning I enjoy wild blueberries on my cereal. In addition to being delicious, wild blueberries are an antioxidant-rich superfood. Wild blueberry pie, not the Whoopie pie, is Maine’s official dessert. My heart breaks to see another Maine icon threatened by climate change.
What is the most important thing people can do to keep wild blueberries, moose and lobsters in Maine? Vote for candidates at the local, state and federal levels who support efforts to transition our towns, state and country from fossil fuels (including natural gas) to renewable, clean energy. Elect legislators who are serious about reducing greenhouse gasses to slow and eventually stop global warming.
Without serious legislators, we will undo progress gained through the “Maine Won’t Wait” climate action plan and the Inflation Reduction Act.
Dorothy Jones
Brunswick
