Cranberry Red: A Novel

Afterword

307 After the Osborne park incident, word quickly spread about the dangerous side effects of Cranberry Red, forcing Osborne University and its partner, International Farm-Med Company, to pull the product from the market. The Department of Natural Resources brought a multimilliondollar lawsuit against Osborne University and its partner. Facing the lawsuit, Osborne University closed both the research station on the Tamarack River and the outreach office in Willow River, leaving Gunnar Godson and his staff, plus Brittani Stone, without jobs. Brittani’s marriage to Chris Martin was planned for next June. As much as she never believed it might happen, she was about to become a farmer’s wife. The College of Agricultural and Life Sciences at UW–Madison hired Gunnar Godson as a research associate, to continue his work on increasing the antioxidant levels of cranberries along with other Wisconsin fruit crops. He and his family moved to Madison. The court case against Osborne University and International FarmMed Company dragged on for several months. Osborne University’s legal counsel and IFM’s attorneys argued that the problems with the fish in the Tamarack River were due to causes other than Cranberry Red residue. Beth Wesley, along with several others, testified to the virtues of Cranberry Red–treated cranberries. As a nurse, she spoke eloquently about how these new cranberries would save thousands of lives. Of course it didn’t help Osborne and IFM’s case when she said, “So what—a few fish in the Tamarack Afterword River were affected. Just think of the thousands of people who would be helped. What should come first, fish or people?” Beth also said she was testifying on behalf of the thousands of students from around the world who were in the midst of completing degree programs , herself included, and that with the possibility of Osborne University closing they would be left with nothing but several thousands of dollars of lost tuition money. Oscar Anderson and Fred Russo also testified. “I tell ya,” Oscar Anderson said, looking straight at the jury, “them fish we caught in the Tamarack River were killers. First big fish I caught there took after me. Chewed off my walkin’ stick. Cut it right in two, and it was hickory. Hickory wood that fish sliced off. Hickory wood is hard.” The jury was smiling as Oscar told his story. “Then there was the time when me and Fred was ice fishin’ in our little shack right there on the backwater of the river. Mindin’ our own business and cooking up a little venison sausage on our woodstove. Well, I tell ya, we hooked onto this fish, a northern, it was. And it was a bigun.” Oscar held out his arms to show just how big he thought the fish was. “That fish came a-flopping into our fish shack and came right after us. Managed to tip over the stove and burn down our shack before it slid back into the hole. That damn fish burnt down our fish shack. Yes, it did. Something got into that northern. Something sure stirred him up. Grew him big and made him mean.” Gus Caldwell, representing the DNR, testified, “We found abnormal growth rates of fish in the Tamarack River when we did our fish surveys. We also found measurable amounts of the Cranberry Red chemical in the fish we examined in our state laboratory. Additionally, we found trace amounts of Cranberry Red in the water samples we took from the Tamarack River as recently as a few weeks ago.” A representative from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration testified that his agency was challenging International Farm-Med Company’s claim that they could legally sell Cranberry Red–treated cranberries to the public without FDA approval. International Farm-Med attorneys claimed that the FDA lacked jurisdiction because the treated cranberries were sold as a health food, a dietary supplement, and thus did not need approval for sale from a governmental agency. 308 Afterword 309 Afterword The jury deliberated less than half a day and found Osborne University and International Farm-Med Company guilty of all charges. The next day both Osborne University and IFM declared bankruptcy and closed down. Once more working as Ames County agricultural agent, Ben Wesley, with the able assistance of Mrs. Brittani Martin, continued to provide educational programs for the people of Ames County, from the smallest market...