"The gist of the story that began to circulate across social media was that during the cranberry harvest hundreds of spiders float to the surface of the cranberry bog and beeline for the workers. Being the tallest thing around, the spiders are said to seek refuge from the high water by climbing up the terrified workers. Given the viscerally unpleasant images evoked by the idea of spiders climbing onto your face, it is no surprise that the social media posts went viral,"
"You will be happy to know that, for the most part, those videos are nonsense. Claims that the first question cranberry farmers ask potential employees is about their fear of spiders, or that cranberry bog workers are compensated upwards of $150,000 for a short season due to the eight-legged menace, are patently false. It is not the spider-filled hell-scape that these videos describe, but that is not to say that arachnids are entirely absent in the cranberry bogs."
Most people pay attention to cranberries mainly around Thanksgiving for recipes or sauces. A social media rumor claimed that during the cranberry harvest hundreds of spiders float to the surface of flooded bogs and climb workers to escape rising water. Those clips spurred viral sharing and copycat videos. The most extreme claims — that farmers screen employees about spider fear or that bog workers earn upwards of $150,000 for a short season due to spiders — are false. Cranberries grow in wetlands and fields look photogenic during harvest, which contributes to misconceptions about growing conditions. Arachnids can be present, but infestations are exaggerated.
Read at Tasting Table
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]