Saturday, July 19, 2008

North Carolina Symbols Part VI


State Vegetable, Sweet Potato - The sweet potato was officially designated the State Vegetable by the General Assembly of 1995.
Students at a Wilson County school petitioned the North Carolina General Assembly for the establishment of the sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas) as the Official State Vegetable. Their assignment led to the creation of this state symbol. The sweet potato is high in vitamins A and C and low in fat and was grown in North Carolina before the European colonization of North America.
According to the National Agricultural Statistics Service, North Carolina is the largest producer of sweet potatoes in the nation, harvesting more than 700 million pounds of the vegetable in 2006, and thus providing more than 40% of the 1.6 billion pounds produced in the United States.

Your North Carolina Broker

Sonja Babic

252-617-0861

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