July is National Blueberry Month. July was first introduced as “Blueberry Month” through a joint resolution of the House and Senate on June 13, 1974. The joint resolution led President Richard Nixon’s call on Americans to “observe that month with appropriate ceremonies and activities.” A similar proclamation was made in 2005 by then-USDA Secretary Mike Johanns.

Commercialization of the blueberry began in 1916, when Elizabeth White collaborated with USDA botanist Frederick Coville to defy ...