Progress 10/01/03 to 09/30/05
Outputs
We completed a survey of approximately 80 percent of the thimbleberry jam producers in Houghton and Keweenaw Counties and interviewed twelve individuals who only harvested, but did so on a large enough basis to have an impact on their household income. We used snowball sampling to identify participants and semi-structured interviews with each respondent. Many of the producers were interviewed more than one time. Economic:Sales of jam in Houghton and Keweenaw counties in one year were estimated at a value of $150,000. Of this,$50,000 was paid to harvesters. Eight ounce jars sold for eight to twelve dollars and harvesters were paid eight to sixteen dollars per pound. Thimbleberry jam is the most expensive jam in the region and high prices are driven by the high price paid for berries. Berries are difficult to find and harvest due to the biology of the thimbleberry. Most jam processing businesses are family businesses. Few businesses advertise extensively and all
businesses indicated they had no trouble selling each year's entire stock of jam. One person specifically stated she did not advertise because she had all the business she needed. Nobody exclusively worked in thimbleberry harvesting or thimbleberry jam production. It is always a side business or a part of a larger business. Cultural:Thimbleberry jam production exists in what an economist would call an informal economy. Traditional links between sellers of berries and jam producers overlap through the years and, in some cases, over generations. Most of the purchase and sale is done without prearranged contracts, just the knowledge that the purchaser has always paid a fair price for berries and will continue to do so. Many of the harvesters indicate they harvest because they enjoy being out in the woods. Since many berry patches are located on Commercial Forest Act land or public land, harvesters closely guard the location of their patches. Most harvesters are older or are children who
harvest with parents. Only one person intentionally cultivated thimbleberries for sale. There are many cases of people who grow patches on their own property for home consumption. Several people engaged in proto-horticulture, manipulating naturally-occurring stands for insect and disease prevention or increased production. We also asked both jam producers and berry harvesters about constraints to the business. Generally, harvesters listed problems with insects and the sparseness of berries in the woods as key problems. Thimbleberry bushes produce over a three month time period, but never have large numbers of berries at one time. Thimbleberry stands must be revisited frequently. It is the sparseness that drives up the cost of the berries. Also, a few harvesters indicated they could pick more berries than producers would purchase. They shipped frozen berries out of state. There were few constraints listed in jam production. We observed that there may be opportunities for increased
sales of jam and other thimbleberry products.
Impacts
One of the clearest results of this study was the strong cultural dimensions associated with thimbleberry production. While all who were involved in some aspect of thimbleberry jam production identified economic gain as a key reason for their involvement, they often listed cultural factors as important. At times the cultural factors along with the difficulty involved in harvesting large quantities of berries quickly acted as a constraint to further harvesting and production. We found it interesting that the high prices for jam and berries are both positive a high value product generates high return per unit of sale, and negative high prices reduce demand. Thus, we feel the next step is to work on ways to increase productivity of thimbleberry. Our view is that thimbleberry has the potential to move to a more horticultural setting, much as ginseng has done in the United States, with intentional cropping in agroforestry settings. In our survey we found several individuals
who have essentially taken the first steps in this process on their own. We hope to pursue this type of research in a participatory fashion. Increasing jam production and developing new products and markets would be a logical step only after thimbleberry production and harvesting methods are improved, reducing the cost per pound for thimbleberries while simultaneously increasing the return per hour for harvesters.
Publications
- No publications reported this period
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Progress 10/01/03 to 09/29/04
Outputs
Phase 1. Design and test surveys. To be completed by 31 January 2004. - COMPLETE. Phase 2. Interview processors. We plan to interview processors first as they may help identify collectors. To be completed by 31 March 2004. - COMPLETE. Phase 3. Interview collectors. Some collector interviews may overlap with processor interviews. To be completed by 31 May 2004. - COMPLETE. Phase 4. Check data for biases. Re-interview where necessary. To be completed by 15 June 2004. - COMPLETE. Phase 5. Compile and analyze data. Write final report and journal article(s). To be completed by 30 September 2004. Compile and analyze data and final report are COMPLETE. Journal article is underway and planned for the forthcoming budget year. The final report is Anderson, J. 2004. Thimbleberry jam production in Houghton and Keweenaw Counties, Michigan. Unpublished Master's Thesis, Michigan Technological University, Houghton, MI. 68 + vii pages.
Impacts
The final report was distributed to all participants who were interested and, by their request, several copies have also been distributed to the media, including our acknowledgement of McIntire-Stennis funding. We expect to publish a peer-reviewed journal article. We have extended the project to complete the article. Two practical results may occur. We identified marketing as a potential way to improve the sales of thimbleberries. We have also considered for some time prior to undertaking this research whether there may be ways to improve forest productivity. We identified several individuals who have taken small steps in this direction and are currently discussing possibilities of working more closely with other harvesters. We have extended the project to explore this new potential opportunity.
Publications
- Anderson, J. 2004. Thimbleberry jam production in Houghton and Keweenaw Counties, Michigan. Unpublished Master's Thesis, Michigan Technological University, Houghton MI. 68 + vii pages.
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