Alabama is a state richly rooted in agriculture, so it was surprising to hear there was no official state vegetable.
But that’s changed, thanks to the efforts of Kristin Smith’s homeschool students.
When I first saw this tweet from Montgomery Advertiser reporter Brian Lyman: “Bill Designating Sweet Potato official Alabama vegetable on the Alabama House Floor six bells,” I chuckled. I thought, “Wow. Is this really what our legislators are working on?”
Then I looked at the bill, which highlighted the efforts of the students. “This body thanks Kristin Smith of Harvest, Alabama and her homeschool class for their excellent proposal on behalf of the sweet potato which led to this designation.”
With the coronavirus pandemic dominating headlines, it wouldn’t be surprising for people to see this and think it was hokey or unimportant.
But the root of the matter is, this group of students uncovered something and made a difference.
“Even if it is a sweet potato and 18 homeschoolers over two years, I want them to walk away with that knowledge that we can make a difference,” Smith told The News Courier. “This is something they’ll never forget, that’s for sure.”
Gov. Kay Ivey signed the bill last week, officially declaring the sweet potato as state vegetable.
Sweet potatoes have deep roots in Alabama (pun intended). As mentioned in the bill, Alabama ranks sixth in the nation in the production of sweet potatoes, and the crop brings an estimated $9 million to the state each year.
Dishes featuring the sweet potato have been listed in prominent media outlets such as the Food Network as a “top food to eat in Alabama” and in Southern Living Magazine as a southern holiday tradition, the bill noted.
Joe Kemble, an extension specialist professor in Auburn University’s Department of Horticulture said the sweet potato is one of the top large acreage crops grown in the state. Most of the state’s sweet potatoes are grown in Cullman and Baldwin counties.
“I think it’s a unique choice for state vegetable crop,” Kemble said. “It’s remarkably versatile in terms of its uses.”
The students first wrote to senators asking them to consider making the sweet potato the official state vegetable in 2019, after they found out there wasn’t one. The students were planning a dinner that featured the official state foods for the state’s bicentennial.
The idea was met with sweet potato praise, but the coronavirus unfortunately prevented the bill from advancing into law. It was revived this year after students decided to rewrite the senators.
In addition to providing nutritional benefits, sweet potatoes are ubiquitous and versatile, Kemble said. They are grown by both farmers and homeowners.
Plus, they make tasty game day snacks.
“Several years ago ... for sale during game days, we were actually growing orange sweet potatoes. There’s also blue irish potatoes,” Kemble said. “We sort of mixed them together and we were calling them ‘Tiger Fries’ as a joke. But it was surprisingly popular.”
April 22, 2021 at 10:00PM
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