Sweet Potatoes - The Official State Vegetable of North Carolina (2024)

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Sweet Potatoes - The Official State Vegetable of North Carolina? ›

The sweet potato has been North Carolina's official state vegetable since 1995, and North Carolina is ranked #1 in sweet potato production. Nutritionists say that sweet potatoes should be a part of any diet.

And with good reason! More than 40 percent of the national supply of sweet potatoes comes from our great state. According to healthline.com, the health benefits from this root vegetable are pretty impressive also! They are full of fiber and antioxidants, which helps in aiding with digestion and overall gut health.

If you've enjoyed a silky, savory sweet potato during the last 40 years or so, chances are good that it was grown in North Carolina, where roughly 70% of all sweet potatoes in the U.S. are produced.

Sweet Potatoes

Did you know that sweet potatoes are the state vegetable of North Carolina? It's true! Whether you're hitting up Reid's Fine Foods in Eastern North Carolina or pulling into a diner in Chapel Hill, you'll find someone nearby who can serve up a delicious side dish of sweet potatoes.

North Carolina grows more sweet potatoes than any other state. Let that sink in. Our state's total annual crop amounts to half of all of the sweet potatoes grown in the United States.

[1] In 2021 its production represented 64 percent of total U.S. production. [2] The potatoes are grown primarily in central and eastern North Carolina. The largest producers are currently the counties of Sampson, Nash, Wilson, and Johnston.

Approximately 50% of the nation's supply of sweetpotato is produced in North Carolina. Other leading states include Louisiana, California, and Mississippi.

The sweet potato has been North Carolina's official state vegetable since 1995, and North Carolina is ranked #1 in sweet potato production.

Who eats the most sweet potatoes? ›

China is the world's biggest producer and consumer of sweetpotato, where it is used for food, animal feed, and processing (as food, starch, and other products).

If you're looking to try purple sweet potatoes, keep an eye out for names such as Purple Stokes, Purple Majesty, and Okinawan or Hawaiian. Of these varieties, Purple Stokes has the moistest flesh and is most suitable as an orange sweet potato substitute.

Though they can both be part of a healthy diet, sweet potatoes are generally healthier than regular potatoes, partly because of their incredibly high vitamin A content. Sweet potatoes are also lower on the glycemic index, meaning that they are less likely than regular potatoes to make your blood sugar spike.

North Carolina's hot, humid summers are perfect for a crop that evolved in the tropics and requires up to 120 days of warm weather to mature [3].

Vardaman is located in one of Mississippi's top five sweet potato-producing counties. The Vardaman Sweet Potato Festival, also known as the National Sweet Potato Festival, is held there annually the entire first week in November. Vardaman has been proclaimed as the "Sweet Potato Capital of the World".

Emerald: Adopted in 1973 as the State Gem of North Carolina, the emerald is a green gem variety of beryl (beryllium aluminum silicate: Be3Al2(Si6O18)). It was first discovered by farmers in Alexander County during the mid-1800s and later in Mitchell County in 1894-95.

2009. "Dogwood in bloom." Online on Flickr.In 1941 the North Carolina General Assembly designated the flower of the dogwood tree (Cornaceae) as the official state flower. In actuality, three species of dogwoods exist in North Carolina.