An article on FoxNews.com addresses blueberry production in the U.S. The
article, written by Elena Ferretti contains this:
"According The US Highbush Blueberry Council, North America produced
more than 400 tons of highbush blueberries in 2008. The majority are
grown in Florida, Georgia, the Carolinas, New Jersey and Michigan,
though they can be found in 38 states. Lowbush blueberries accounted for
just 75 million pounds, but not due to a lack of popularity."
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,536311,00.html
From her text, I would infer that highbush production vastly exceeds
lowbush production. But the numbers say otherwise.
Of course, good writing style would have been to use the same unit of
measure for the two production figures.
Apparently Ms. Ferretti either has made some typographic error in
reporting the two quantities or she is innumerate and incapable of
relating pounds and tons. The factor needed is 2000, which is not
terribly hard to deal with. I suspect that if the two quantities were
given in metric tons (tonnes) and kilograms respectively, where the
relevant factor is 1000, Ms. Ferretti would still have a problem
relating the two. We who push metrication must recognize that there will
always be people who cannot multiply or divide by 1000 (or by 10 or by
100); often, it's a matter of which (multiply or divide) to do.
Unfortunately, FoxNews.com website does not make it easy to send
feedback to the person or department needing comment. The above address
is one of the very few email addresses I have found so far on their
website. I found nothing for the "Leisure" site at FoxNews.com nor for
their "Food-and-Drink" site. Perhaps the folks at the above address will
forward this to Ms. Ferretti and her editor--or perhaps not.
Jim
--
James R. Frysinger
632 Stony Point Mountain Road
Doyle, TN 38559-3030
(C) 931.212.0267
(H) 931.657.3107
(F) 931.657.3108
