FOCUS - SEPTEMBER 2018 3 Move over, blueberries! There’s a new berry in town…. Aronia berries are all the rage for multiple health benefits, but lo- cal grower Silvio Mattacchione is quick to point out that officially, no medical claims can be made about foods, according to Health Canada and the FDA in the US. Yet research (Google pubmed.gov) praises aronia melanocarpa as a super berry, which neutralizes free radicals in the body. Also known as the black chokeberry, the aronia berry is reputed to have the highest ORAC value (Oxygen Radical Absorbency Capacity) of any fruit or berry. For example, the ORAC value of blueberries is 5,000 – 8,000 whereas the ORAC value of aronia berries is 16,000. A nutritionally dense whole food, the aronia berry has antimicro- bial, anti-inflammatory and radio pro- tective properties, Silvio says. There are many articles and books which credit aronia berries for having a posi- tive effect on a variety of conditions and diseases, ranging from diabetes to high blood pressure to high choles- terol to colon and heart problems, and the list goes on. Aronia berries are actually not new at all. North American First Nations consumed the black chokeberry centu- ries ago and used it in the production of pemmican. Silvio pointed out that aronia berries are not as well known as blueberries, acai fruit and goji berries. It combines the benefits of green tea, dark berries and red wines. This wonder berry is grown right here in Port Perry, totally free of pesticides, herbicides and fertilizers. The public is invited to pick their own aronia berries at Silvio’s farm the last week of August, and during September and October, from Monday through Saturday, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Closed on Sunday. The cost is $10 per lb. ‘You are what you eat,” Silvio re- minds everyone. “Eat purple!” Silvio, his wife Ivana, and their daughter Gloria, reside on a charming rural property at 1251 Scugog Line 8. Twenty-three years ago, they bought the grand Victorian farmhouse, known as the old Biglestone residence. It had been abandoned for years, but soon they restored it into a comfortable home. As well as a stunning field of day lilies, the property includes seven cultivated acres of aesthetically pleas- ing aronia plants, which started out as tiny 2 1/2” plugs. Silvio compares the B Berries ARONIA nature’s healer & protector Pick your own superberries right here in Scugog! ...................... Please turn to page 4 Silvio showing the plentiful berries grown on his property right here in Scugog. PHOTOS BY MARYANN FLEMING PHOTO BY MARYANN FLEMING