Midwest Elderberry Cooperative supports the commercial cultivation of native, American Elderberry (Sambucus nigra canadensis), a perennial that provides many environmental benefits and healing nutrition from fragrant flowers and sweet-neutral berries. Although only 34 members concentrated in the Midwest, MEC works in varying degrees with about 150 farmers from coast-to-coast and hundreds of small businesses marketing their American elderberry products to a variety of communities. MEC is in the progress of developing the infrastructure to produce and market commercial scale ingredients.