00:00I'm Lucy Fink. I'm a video producer at Refinery29, but every so often I like to try other people's jobs.
00:06Today I'm in the heart of cranberry country in Massachusetts to see if I have what it takes to be
00:11a cranberry farmer.
00:12This is Lucy for Hire.
00:16I grew up with Ocean Spray Cranberry Juice as a staple in my family's refrigerator.
00:20So when I learned that they were coming out with a brand new pink cranberry juice drink, I was inspired
00:26to dive deeper.
00:27Well, not too deep. After all, I didn't want to flood my waders.
00:32I took a trip to Carver, Massachusetts to meet with Allison and Ben, cousins who work side-by-side as
00:38sixth- and first-generation cranberry farmers.
00:41Cranberries are a perennial crop, which means you harvest them once a year, but you grow them for the remainder
00:46of the year.
00:46They've been, in my family, growing cranberries since the 1800s.
00:50The first thing I learned is that Ocean Spray is a cooperative.
00:54Ocean Spray is farmer-owned, and 100% of profits go back to the farmers.
01:00My great-great-grandfather and his two brothers helped to form the co-op in the 30s.
01:06So it started out with these three growers coming together, and today you went from three growers all the way
01:11to 700.
01:12So it's like 700 families, but you're all one family?
01:15You're all one big Ocean Spray family.
01:16That's awesome.
01:17My first challenge was to understand the growing process.
01:20Lucy is going to get into the bog and sample the cranberries to see whether or not they're ripe and
01:26ready to be harvested.
01:27I met Allison and Ben in the cranberry bog, where they walked me through what a typical cranberry bed looks
01:32like.
01:33Good morning!
01:34Look at it out here. Is it always this foggy in the morning?
01:36It's a New England type of morning.
01:37So this is what a bog looks like most of the year.
01:41Cranberries have two crops on them.
01:44This crop that's ready to be harvested, and then on the very end, you'll see a tiny little start of
01:51next year's crop right there.
01:53Can I taste it?
01:54Absolutely!
01:57Mmm!
01:58The cranberry is one of three native fruits cultivated in North America, and they grow on low-lying vines.
02:04I learned that cranberries have four pockets of air in them, which helps them stay afloat once the bog is
02:09flooded.
02:10Mmm!
02:11Ben taught me how to use an antique berry picker, which is what farmers used to use to harvest the
02:16cranberries.
02:16Typically, you're on your knee, and you're going like this, and you're slowly working forward.
02:21This was how, historically, they used to harvest all the bogs.
02:24So it gives a really good representation.
02:26It's a tool that's used to scoop fresh cranberries off the vine, so that the fruit can be taken indoors
02:31and tested for ripeness.
02:34There's a specific rocking motion you're supposed to do with this tool, so I gave it a go.
02:39Scoop in a little bit, yep, and then rock it back like this.
02:43It took a little while, but I eventually got into the groove.
02:48There you go.
02:50All my babies.
02:52After we had thoroughly explored the bog, it was time to move over to the flooded bog.
02:57The bogs are flooded twice a year.
02:59Once in December to protect the vines, and once in October right before the wet harvest.
03:04But I'll explain that process later on.
03:06First, I needed to get suited up.
03:08Your second challenge is to suit up and get ready to get into the bog.
03:11You don't want to be wet, so you need to be wearing waders like we are.
03:15I was given my own waders, and the three of us got dressed.
03:18Roll over your pant leg and actually put your sock over top it, so it's comfortable inside your boot.
03:25This outfit is a contraption.
03:28It's heavy, fully waterproof, and has a pair of rubber boots securely attached to the base.
03:33And once I was strapped in, we were ready to go.
03:36Lucy's third challenge is harvesting.
03:39Remember those four air pockets that help the cranberries float?
03:42By taking a mechanical picker through a flooded bog, and letting the cranberries float to the top,
03:47farmers can collect more cranberries than if they're working by hand.
03:50In order to pick the berries from the vine, Ben and I climbed aboard one of those mechanical pickers
03:56called a water reel, or egg beaters, and drove straight into a flooded bog.
04:00This is usually what I do every day, is pick.
04:02Wow.
04:04Because cranberry farming is so unique, and there were no established tools to use,
04:08all cranberry growers, just like Ben's family, have created their own tools to help with the harvest.
04:15One lever pushed the wheel into the water.
04:17Another lowered it down beneath the surface.
04:20Another set the wheel in motion.
04:23And yet another controlled the speed and direction of the machine.
04:27For reference, this flooded bog is essentially the same as that bog we were walking on in the morning,
04:32but it's completely filled with water.
04:35The machine gently picks the cranberries off the vines, and then leaves them floating on the surface.
04:40The sticks are markers that help denote where the rows of cranberries are,
04:44and they also ensure that you don't drive too close to the edge of the bog, where there's a ditch.
04:50Once the cranberries were afloat, it was time to get in.
04:52We waded our way into the water, and immersed ourselves in cranberries.
04:56I'm in the cranberries!
04:58I'm surrounded!
04:59I'm seeing pink, white, and red cranberries.
05:02What's the difference here?
05:03So the red are a little bit more tart, and the pink and the white are a little less tart.
05:09You have a more full-flavored taste with a cranberry juice cocktail, which uses a lot of the deep red.
05:15And then with the pinks and the whites, you get a lighter, more refreshing taste.
05:19The waders are truly amazing.
05:20You don't get wet at all.
05:23It was shaping up to be a pretty warm day outside, so the cool water actually felt extremely nice on
05:28the lower half of your body.
05:29It's like a little cold spa.
05:31Next, it was time to corral the cranberries into one big circle.
05:35Try to walk right along these yellow flags all the way to the backside of that corral there.
05:39Okay.
05:39Sometimes you have to use your whole body weight to pull it.
05:42This particular bed that we're on has about 1,300 barrels on it, and one barrel is 100 pounds of
05:47cranberries.
05:48I took hold of the rope on the edge of the boom and began walking.
05:52It's a game of push and pull with the tractor that's on land, so I pull for a bit, and
05:57then I stop while the tractor drives forward.
05:59I'm using the word pull, but the truth is I was heaving with all of my might.
06:04This is not a walk in the bog, is it?
06:06This is probably the most labor-intensive Lucy for Hire I've tried.
06:10You're corralling tons of cranberries into one area.
06:14That's a feat of strength for one little person.
06:17Well, listen, I just want to thank you two for all the help.
06:20Oh, yeah.
06:21Right here.
06:21The end is in sight.
06:23But the good news is, as you're working, you're surrounded by snacks.
06:27It's so hard to not eat every cranberry that I see.
06:32Yum.
06:33So close.
06:35I'm almost at the finish line.
06:38Five, four, I'm three seconds early.
06:42Eventful.
06:43When the cranberries are corralled tightly in place, it becomes a very interesting experience.
06:48There are so many cranberries floating in such a little bit of space that they become basically like a blanket.
06:54I even saw a friendly frog.
06:57Hey!
06:58Oh, okay.
07:00After I helped my new friend back onto dry land, it was time to get the cranberries into the truck.
07:05We're going to use paddles to actually push berries into the pan, which then sucks them up into the truck.
07:11The particular pump that we use doesn't damage any of the cranberries.
07:15Up above, we put on giant gloves and essentially search the pile for any big twigs, sticks, or leaves before
07:21the fruit is rinsed off and dropped into the truck.
07:24From here, these little guys are taken off to be made into the cranberry juice, sauces, and craisins, sweetened dried
07:30cranberries that we love.
07:31My day at the bog was so enjoyable.
07:34And even though I ate a ton of fresh cranberries, I hadn't enjoyed any cranberry juice yet.
07:39So the next day, I visited Ocean Spray's headquarters in Lakeville, Massachusetts, and met with Brianna, a product developer at
07:46Ocean Spray's R&D Lab.
07:47She talked to me about the inspiration behind their new pink light cranberry juice drink.
07:52It's a blend of white, pink, and red, so that we still get that crisp cranberry flavor that people are
07:57expecting,
07:58but with that lighter, more refreshing taste that's coming from the white and the pink cranberries.
08:02And we even got to do a taste test.
08:04Some of the classic cranberry juice cocktail.
08:08Cheers.
08:08Cheers.
08:11The classic taste of Ocean Spray.
08:13It's really sweet and really enjoyable.
08:15You get that pucker.
08:16And that's the classic taste that comes from those bright red cranberries.
08:20I'm going to pop open the pink.
08:21All right.
08:26Oh, wow.
08:27It doesn't have the pucker.
08:29It's very refreshing.
08:30I feel like on a hot summer day or, honestly, a cold winter's night, this would be the perfect flavor.
08:38Overall, my trip was a major success.
08:40Lucy was amazing.
08:41She is hired as a cranberry farmer.
08:43She was able to pull the boom better than I thought, and she got right in there, became one with
08:48nature.
08:48I was put to work in this episode and was using all of my strength to complete the challenges that
08:54were thrown my way.
08:55Even though the morning was a little rainy, we didn't let that bog us down.
09:01The day shaped up to be beautiful, and I think I got the job.
09:05Let me know what jobs you want to see me try next time, and we'll see you then on Lucy
09:08for Hire.
09:09Hey, YouTube, thanks for watching.
09:11Click here to watch another episode of Lucy for Hire, here to subscribe to Refinery29 on YouTube, and right here
09:17for my personal YouTube channel.
09:19See ya!
09:20Woo-hoo!
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