Farmers growing pink pumpkins for cancer

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MINNEAPOLIS, Oct. 13 (UPI) -- A Minnesota farmer has planted pink pumpkins as a way of showing support for Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

Bert Bouwman, who owns a farm in Brooklyn Park, planted 15,000 seeds this year that grew into light pink pumpkins, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reported Monday.

"There's a lot of pumpkin farmers out there, but not a lot of pink ones," Bouwman said. "This was a combination of a new product, a new opportunity, and most important, a way to support a cause that affects nearly every family."

About 50 vegetable growers nationally were a part of the campaign, started by the Pink Pumpkin Patch Foundation. The farmers supplied about 900 retailers nationwide with the pink pumpkins.

"It's going surprisingly well," said Gunars Sprenger-Otto, produce manager at Fresh Seasons Markets in Victoria and Minnetonka, Minn. "American Pumpkin Growers have donated a portion of Porcelain Doll Proceeds to Cancer Research."

The new seed is called "porcelain doll."

Farmers who bought the seeds signed a contract pledging to give 25 cents from every pink pumpkin to breast cancer research.

Bouwman, who grows other unusually colored pumpkins, such as white and peach, said he was surprised by the demand for the pink.

"I'm shipping them to other states, too," he said. "Missouri wanted two semi loads. I told them they could have one."