Apparently, there was too much rain and not enough sun in Illinois last year causing Libby (who has control of about 85% of the nation's supply) to lose their entire harvest. And things went a little crazy. Cans of Libby's pumpkin were going for $40 a can on Ebay (the remains of such a monstrosity can still be found on ebay) and the remaining 6 cans of pumpkin were locked up in their Marketing Director's office. That's bananas.
Left: Libby's Marketing Director and the last 6 cans of 2009's pumpkin harvest
Right: Libby's Asst. Marketing Director's son after he learned there was no pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving
(L Photo courtesy of Washington Post, R Photo by Colleen MacPherson via USASK)
So, how did I come to learn of such atrocities? A dear friend of mine was in the mood for some Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread, which I must admit, sounds delicious - there is chocolate in it after all. So, she went to our local grocery store to look for some of Libby's canned pumpkin and found none. Saddened, she found the manager and asked if he knew when they would be getting in their Fall shipment, and much to her dismay, his answer was, Hopefully by Thanksgiving and then proceeded to tell her about the loss of Libby's harvest.
Our assumption until now, was that he was discussing this year and that a new crop was being planted, and would only by some huge miracle be canned & on grocery shelves in time for Thanksgiving. However, after doing some hard-hitting research for hours on end (okay, I googled it and found the answer in 3.2 seconds), I found that this year's pumpkin harvest is okay and should be on the shelves next week. Phew.
So, for those of you out there craving pumpkin infused desserts, rest assured, it is on it's way. Happy Baking!
(Photo courtesy of Redstone American Grill)
No comments:
Post a Comment