The Great Maple Syrup Robbery

We often hear about America's Global Strategic Petroleum Reserve. Now it turns out that Canada has a Global Strategic Maple Syrup Reserve. While the popular image of the maple syrup producer is the quaint Vermont farmer tapping his trees, 90 percent of the world's maple service is produced in Canada, 75 percent by a cartel of producers in Quebec that set quotas to keep prices high. In case of a bad season, they maintain the Reserve. The 2012 season was very productive — until thieves began tapping the Reserve. Ian Austen is Canada correspondent for the New York Times.