Ode to the Wild Currents of the USA

Wild currents, which are native to Northern North America, have an interesting history...

   In my childhood I ate and loved a little red berry that grew around a stone wall on the farm I grew up on. We had not planted it and it appeared to be a wild plant. A couple years ago I tried finding out what it was, but ran into wall after wall. However, it felt important to me, so I persisted. And I finally found out what they were! They were red currents, most likely a wild variety. I've had a really hard time finding information about the real wild currents on the web, because it was literally a forbidden fruit that has now been mostly forgotten and has been being replaced with genetically modified varieties, which is mostly what is on the web.
   However, I learned that the wild currents and gooseberries, of North America, were very abundant and very commonly eaten raw and used in jams...etc., prior to 1911 when they were banned in the USA and uncountable millions of them were destroyed. Exactly why they were banned has raised suspicions and I have some of my own...

An interesting chain of facts;

It was around 1900 when there began a very strong push to prevent people from using plants for medicine, in order to transition humanity into buying man made pharmaceuticals instead. AND the wild currents are extremely medicinal, possibly far more so than most wild plants in Northern America; they are known to be really good for curing and preventing viruses and heart problems and many other illnesses, due to their very high content of vitamins C and K and iron...etc. Coincidence?
    It was also around 1900 when Nicola Tesla and others learned that certain pharmaceuticals, used in conjunction with radio waves, could interfere with various natural functions of the human mind. This was the birth of pharmaceutical and radio wave (microwave) mind control. AND eating wild currents is known to remove toxins from the body, which could render at least some pharmaceuticals either less effective or not effective at all. Coincidence?
    The logging industry was reported to have been the ones who pushed for the ban on wild currents and wild gooseberries in the USA; they claimed that they carried the white pine blister rust disease that was destroying the White Pines and that their existence was going to be too devastating to the logging industry. But was that the truth? And if not, who inspired or manipulated them into doing that? Was it the pharmaceutical industry? The USA Government wisely lifted the federal ban on wild currents in the 1960s, after realizing that the risk was too minimal to warrant the extinction of a valuable plant. The USDA now says that "the American black currant is considered a low risk for serving as a host for the white pine blister rust." So things are now heading in the right direction. But what about the wild red current and gooseberries? And what about the state laws; growing wild currents and gooseberries is still illegal in some states. When are we going to get this important part of our real and needed food and medicine back?

The wild current is one of our many abused and mostly forgotten treasures, and it surely is one of the most important ones for us to rescue and use.

Sadly, uncountable millions of wild current and gooseberry bushes were destroyed in America and growing them is still illegal in some states. Of all the wild and abundant plant foods, that human beings need for the sake of retaining good health, wild currents are surely one of the most important ones, if not the most important one in Northern America and Canada. These valuable plants were not only needed for human health and wellbeing, but also for that of bears and deer and moose and birds...etc. Since the ban, new species of currents have been being created and some are even thought to be the "wild currents" in some places on the web. But they aren't and we need the real thing, not a manmade imitation with less nutrients...etc.

According to what I have found thus far; Ribes Americanum appears to be a real wild current that is native to the northern USA and Canada. It is also known as the "wild black current" and "American Black Currant" and "Eastern Black Current." Ribes Triste also appears to be a real wild one that is native to Northern America and is also called the "Swamp Red Current" and "Northern Red Current" and "Bitter Current." But I am not fully trusting this information, because there was so little on the web and its obviously a plant species that has been forgotten by most people. I want to be sure that I have the proper names of the real unaltered wild ones. So, I need to do more research. Please also do your own research and help bring the real wild currents and gooseberries back onto our lands and back into our bodies for the sake of our health and that of our wildlife. Propagation of wild currents is actually very easy - they can be planted with seeds in the berries or through rooting little branch cuttings. With just a little human help, one existing wild current plant could quickly produce thousands of new ones, which can mature and produce fruit within just three years. There is hope.
   
So, it appears that those pretty little red berries, which I ate and loved as a child, were (and still are) forbidden fruit. But they shouldn't be. I still feel like I need to eat them and I should be allowed to. I hear that, although wild currents were mostly destroyed in the Northeastern USA, they are still growing wild in Michigan and are considered an invasive weed there. (Hopefully it is the truly wild variety.) But I can't go there right now. Perhaps other people will help bring them back to the Northeastern USA and other places where they were mostly destroyed, if they are the real wild ones. Perhaps you could be one of these people, if you want to be.