Michelle Obama's War on Cranberries

Everything the Obama's do costs jobs...

The First Lady is not making many friends in the cranberry industry. 

Thanks to Michelle Obama's "Let's Move" initiative, the Department of Agriculture will soon create stricter guidelines for what can be sold in school vending machines and cafeterias. This could signal the end of young people drinking cranberry juice cocktail — and that's bad news for the cranberry industry. 

Yes, cranberry juice cocktail. It's made with real fruit, sure, but it's also full of sugar. Cranberries are incredibly bitter and tart on their own, which is why they're usually mixed with an awful lot of sweetener. Despite the nutrition benefits, these sugary blends may not mesh with new guidelines. 

At stake is exclusion from an estimated $2.3 billion school vending machine business and an image that could have a negative impact on the marketing of cranberry products worldwide, particularly cranberry juice cocktail, industry officials say.

"If we're put into a category that says these types of products are unhealthy, we think it would be inaccurate and unfair," said Tom Lochner, executive director of the Wisconsin State Cranberry Growers Association. "Lumping us in with other beverages that don't have the health benefits associated with them that cranberries do is definitely going to affect our ability to sell cranberry products."