The blueberry barrens in Cherryfield in August 2014. Since 2012, the United States Department of Agriculture has purchased 30 million pounds of wild Maine blueberries.
The USDA has authorized a purchase of $10 million worth of wild Maine blueberries for fiscal year 2017.
Sara Lawson, an operations and commercialization chef with Applebees, works with a piece of lobster at Fork Food Lab in Portland on July 26 while competing in a Wild Foods Chef Challenge sponsored by the wild blueberry industry.
:Chef Nico Sanchez, left, executive chef of the Firebird Restaurant Group, and Tom Gumpel, vice president of culinary for Panera, work on their dish while competing in the Wild Foods Chef Challenge sponsored by the wild blueberry industry.
Neil Doherty, corporate executive chef and senior director of culinary development at Sysco, ladles a blueberry-based sauce onto a dish during the Wild Foods Chef Challenge.
Christian Hallowell, customer dedicated executive chef for Delta Air Lines, chops charred blue ginger at Fork Food Lab while competing in the Wild Foods Chef Challenge.
Lobsters cook on a grill at Fork Food Lab, part of a dish created by chefs Nico Sanchez and Tom Gumpel during the Wild Foods Chef Challenge.
A dish created at Fork Food Lab in Portland during a chef challenge sponsored by the wild blueberry industry. Ten chefs from across the United States competed to see who could make the best dish using Maine ingredients like wild blueberries, lobster and seaweed.
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