Amid all of the pressing issues of the New York State Senate, there is a light hearted moment. We have a state fruit: apple, a state flower: rose, a state bird: eastern bluebird, a state animal: beaver, a state tree: sugar maple, and countless other official state symbols including an official state muffin: apple muffin. Now lawmakers are going to tackle the responsibility of designating an official state vegetable.
Senator David Carlucci, a representative of Rockland and some of Orange counties, has proposed that the state vegetable be the onion. About 22 square miles of southern Orange County is regionally referred to as Black Dirt country or to natives as muck soil. It is amongst the most fertile soil in the country. It occupies an area that was once a glacier lake bottom as well as the floodplain for the Wallkill River. It was, basically, a swamp until 1835 when drainage was finally put in place. Onions have, in the past, done very well in this soil. Some of the spiciest, best tasting onions came out of that extremely dark and rich dirt. At one time, not so long ago, tens of thousands of pounds of onions were produced per acre of land. Lately, farmers in the area have been diversifying because the interest of the market in onions has changed. Onions are also grown in Orleans, Oswego, Madison and Wayne counties. According to the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets, New York ranks 6th in onion production with an estimated crop value of $49 million dollars.
In response to Mr. Carlucci, Senator Michael Nozzolio of the Finger Lakes Region has proposed that sweet corn be New York’s officially recognized vegetable. Sweet corn is grown all over the state from the Long Island to the Adirondacks to the Great Lakes. There is not a county that does not grow corn but concentrations of the crop are found in the Hudson Valley and the Finger Lakes Region. Corn has been cultivated in New York since before Europeans arrived here. Maize cultivation spread out of Mesoamerica (what is now Mexico and Northern Central America) arriving in the Northeast around 1000 AD. According to the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets, New York ranks 4th in corn production with an estimated crop value of $70 million dollars.
Both are excellent, versatile, and delicious choices to represent New York in the vegetable world. But, if one is looking at production and national ranking to make a decision, there are two other vegetables to consider. We rank 2nd in cabbage production with an estimated crop value of $68 million dollars. Cabbage, like corn, is grown all over the state but production is concentrated in Monroe, Genesee, Orleans, Ontario and Niagara counties. We also rank 2nd in snap peas. Snap peas are grown mostly in the western part of New York and have an estimated crop value of $35.8 million dollars.
The Farm Bureau has opened voting on this subject on its Facebook page. Go vote for your favorite vegetable and may the most popular edible win.
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