The cranberry is native to North America. It has always been consumed by Native Americans, who picked the berries from August to November and preserved them in peat moss. The fruit was an essential ingredient in the production of pemmican, a traditional Native American dish made of dried meat, fat, and dried fruit. Native Americans, however, traded, selecting wild fruits to resell. The first commercial exploitation appeared in 1816 in Massachusetts. Today, the cranberry is grown in the northern United States and Canada.