With Thanksgiving around the corner, many of us are trying to get a head start on  meal preparations. Cranberry sauce, one of the season’s most polarizing dishes, is the main ingredient on our minds today. People tend to have strong opinions on the piquant sauce; writer Alistair Cooke described it as “a pink goo with overtones of sugared tomatoes.” (We’re guessing he wasn’t a fan.) New Jerseyans might view it more positively. After all, the cranberry is one of our agricultural stars. Last year, the versatile fruit was the  second–most harvested produce in the Garden State — 59 million pounds, to be exact. 

One of the few major fruits native to North America, the cranberry is an ingrained Thanksgiving tradition, starring in the tart side dish. But cranberries had a long history before settlers claimed them for Thanksgiving festivals. Native Americans have long used the fruit to preserve meat and even to help draw out poison from wounds. New Jersey ranks third in the nation when it comes to cranberry production. So, when shopping for your Turkey Day feast, be sure to pick up a carton of good Jersey cranberries.