Blueberry designated New Jersey's state fruit

Sunday, January 18, 2004

BRICK, N.J. -- The blueberry became the Garden State's state fruit Monday. In a ceremony at Veterans Memorial Elementary School, Gov. James E. McGreevey signed the bill into law. The location was symbolic: A fourth-grade class at the school, noticing New Jersey's lack of a state fruit, nominated the highbush blueberry for the honor and then lobbied lawmakers hard. Why the blueberry? Why New Jersey? The blueberry was first cultivated here in 1891, in Whitesbog, by the daughter of a cranberry plantation owner. New Jersey now produces about one-fifth of the nation's blueberries, according to McGreevey.

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