this post was submitted on 05 Jul 2023
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Mildly Interesting

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99.9% of Americans have never tasted a Blackcurrant or Gooseberry. For nearly a century, the US government conducted a war on currants and gooseberries. The History Guy YT (www.youtube.com)
submitted 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) by Techpriest@lemmy.world to c/mildlyinteresting@lemmy.world
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I remember my Grandmother having Gooseberry in her garden and joking that they would get her in more trouble than the still she ran on her property.

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[–] SomeoneElse@lemmy.world 2 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Can someone tell me why so I don’t have to watch the video?

[–] joelslaw@lemmy.world 3 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

TLDW: A fungus called "white pine blister rust" can only pollinate in the presence of white pine trees and "ribes" (pronounced rye-bees), which is what currants and gooseberries are. The lumber was deemed far more valuable so in order to save it from the spread of the fungus, cultivation of ribes was outlawed and the US Government enacted a large scale eradication.