While President Biden unveiled plans to pull 50 million barrels of oil from strategic reserves to bring down US energy costs, Canada was tapping into their own stockpiles. But there's nothing crude about what America's neighbor's next door are releasing to cover shortages, though it is very sweet: maple syrup. Per the Guardian, the Federation of Quebec Maple Syrup Producers, called the “Opec of maple syrup” as it's the only syrup stockpile on Earth, has released nearly 50 million pounds of the sticky stuff in order to make up for a shortfall caused by increased demand paired with 2021's short spring harvest.
Per NPR, that's around half the nation's total reserves--a major move in the face of what the outlet has called a "massive shortage." The Quebec agency said it plans to tap an additional 7 million maple trees, the sap of which is the source of syrup, to replenish the reserves and to meet demand that Bloomberg reports increased 21 percent over last year. This year's shortage comes after years of higher than normal harvests and it's the first time in three years the reserves have been tapped. Meanwhile, output in the States, Canada's biggest maple syrup importer, reportedly fell 17 percent this year even as the number of trees tapped in the country rose by 2 percent. While weather in the coming spring, when trees are tapped, remains an unknown, what's clear is that Canada's move will ensure anybody who wants it will get their beloved "liquid gold" this year. (More maple syrup stories.)
,
uBlock 
,
and
Ghostery 
)
