NORTH CAROLINA FOOD TRIVIA

• The Scuppernong is the Official Fruit of North Carolina.

• According to the North Carolina Department of Commerce, the oldest cultivated grapevine in the country is the Mothervine in Manteo on Roanoke Island, North Carolina, a 400 year old Scuppernong vine. Scuppernongs are also known as Muscadine grapes, and they are native to North America.

• The world's largest producer of Muscadine wines is the Duplin Winery in North Carolina. It is also the oldest and largest winery in the state.

North Carolina ranks 10th for grape and wine production in the United States. (2009)

North Carolina is the largest producer of sweet potatoes in the U.S. (2009)

Pepsi-Cola was created in 1898 by Caleb D. Bradham, a New Bern, North Carolina pharmacist.

Official State Festivals

• In 2012 the Marion Livermush Festival was designated the Official State Spring Livermush Festival
• In 2012 the Shelby Livermush Festival was designated the Official State Fall Livermush Festival.
• In 2012 the Swansboro Mullet Festival was designated the Official State Mullet Festival.

• In 2011 the Grifton Shad Festival was designated the Official State Shad Festival;
• In 2011 the Herring Festival in the Town of Jamesville was designated the Official State Herring Festival;
• In 2011 the Sneads Ferry Shrimp Festival was designated the Official State Shrimp Festival.

• In 2009 the North Carolina Potato Festival was designated the Official State Irish Potato Festival.

• In 2007 the Ayden Collard Festival was designated the Official State Collard Festival
• In 2007 the Lexington Barbecue Festival was designated the Official Food Festival of the Piedmont Triad Region. (see below)

• In 1993 the Fair Bluff Watermelon Festival was designated the Official Southeastern N.C. Watermelon Festival
• In 1993 the Hertford County Watermelon Festival was designated the Official Northeastern N.C. Watermelon Festival.

Food Related State Symbols

• In 2005 the Southern Appalachian Brook Trout (Salvelinus fontinalis) was designated the Official State Freshwater Trout.
• In 2005 the Venus Flytrap (Dionaea muscipula) was designated the Official State Carnivorous Plant. (The Venus Flytrap is native to only a small area in the Carolinas, mostly within a 75 mile radius around Wilmington, NC)

• In 2001 North Carolina designated the Blueberry (Genus Vaccinium) the Official State Blue Berry and the Strawberry (Genus Fragaria) the Official State Red Berry.

• In 1995 the Sweet Potato (Ipomoea batatas) was named the Official State Vegetable.

• In 1987 Milk was named the Official State Beverage.

• In 1973 the Honeybee (Apis millifera) was adopted as the Official State Insect.

• In 1971 the Channel Bass or Red Drum (Sciaenops ocellatus) was designated the Official State Saltwater Fish.

• In 1969 North Carolina designated the Grey Squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis) the Official State Mammal.

Lexington, North Carolina, is known as the Barbecue Capital of the World, and October was officially declared 'Barbecue Month' with a month long Annual Barbecue Festival. The Festival has a Parade of Pigs on bicycles (also called the Tour de Pig)!
If you didn't already guess, Lexington is famous for its barbecue. The city's first barbecue restaurant opened in 1919. Lexington barbecue is pork shoulder basted with 'dip,' a mixture of water, vinegar, salt, and pepper. It is cooked slowly over hickory wood until it is 'fall apart tender.' One pound of pork takes about an hour to cook. Today there are over 20 barbecue restaurants in Lexington.
In the 1994 Barbecue Festival, 11,000 pounds of barbecue were served to more than 100,000 people.
Library of Congress Local Legacies Project

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