Michigan is the nation’s leading producer of tart cherries. The blossoms of this humble fruit are now budding across the state.
Tart cherries aren’t native to Michigan, but the sandy soil in the western part of the state is their ideal growing environment. They prosper there, with Michigan’s crop making up 75% of domestic tart cherry production.
Cherry orchards of all varieties dot the West Michigan landscape. The trees blossom in the spring, late April, and early May, with their characteristic white flowers. The fruits themselves are ripe later in the summer, June through August.
They’re mostly sold dried or frozen, or produced into juices and tinctures, and proudly labeled, “grown in Michigan.” Visit a Michigan farmer’s market during cherry season and you’ll find them fresh if you’re lucky.
They certainly aren’t candied cherries like you’ll find at Cherry Republic, though even that Michigan chain known for cherry-everything has caught on. You can find tart cherry juice there, along with dried tart cherries, though we’d recommend their “truly tart” version—just the plain dried cherries with no added sugar or oils.
They’re quite different from sweet cherries, much more tart, but few buy them for the taste. Most folks buy them for the proven medicinal benefits. Tart cherries are a powerful anti-inflammatory.
They’re as potent as a workout recovery supplement, and recovery from injury, chronic pain, and even insomnia are aided by the potent fruit. Melatonin, the sleep hormone, is also present in sizable quantities.
There’s magic growing in the ground, and it’s in Michigan. Yet few apart from esoteric health gurus and natural medicine proponents seem aware of tart cherries. Considering all the inflammatory illnesses plaguing Americans, it’s shocking no one’s ever heard of them.
They haven’t gotten the acai treatment yet. There are no commercials for tart cherry supplements on TV. No million-dollar marketing campaigns singing their praises.
Tart cherries are a profound living symbol of the tie of Michiganders to the land they live in and its ability to provide profound regeneration beyond the institutional systems failing us.
Finding health through the land’s provision is enlightening for one simple reason—it denies our alienation. Globalism denies our specificity, our ties to where we live, in favor of the grand leveling of the global marketplace. It takes the uniqueness of the people and the crops they produce and processes them and distills them until there’s nothing left.
The reaction, the counterpunch, is so simple, yet it takes some effort. Buy some local fruit from a farmer you can look in the face. Fruit that is scientifically proven to have a real capacity to heal.
Bobby Mars is art director of Michigan Enjoyer. Follow him on X @bobby_on_mars.
