You may have heard about the National Petroleum Strategic Reserve or even the National Helium Reserve. Have you ever heard of the Global Strategic Maple Syrup Reserve?

Spread over a number of warehouses in rural communities of Quebec, Canada, vast quantities of maple syrup are held in reserve to guarantee a steady supply of maple syrup to pancake eaters around the world. The Federation of Quebec Maple Syrup Producers administers the Word Reserve and reports 91,496 barrels of maple syrup in reserve as of March 30, 2016. This amounts to 54,976,000 pounds, with a fair market value of $150,968,400.

The reason for maintaining the Global Reserve is simple. The quantity of sap produced by trees is entirely dependent upon weather conditions, and there are years in which relatively little sap is produced. To avoid dramatically-fluctuating prices between the times of plenty and scarcity, the Global Reserve was created.

Readers of John Ringo’s book Live Free or Die and the Maple Syrup Wars trilogy no doubt suspect a military application to the Global Reserve, since the high price of maple syrup among alien species is vital to earth’s survival in Ringo’s vision of the future.

January 28, 2022 UPDATE:

Half of the strategic reserve was released in December 2021 to prevent a massive rise in syrup prices.

March 18, 2022 UPDATE:

The strategic reserve is in danger of running out!