North Carolina is one of the leading states when it comes to holiday-related foods and agricultural outputs. In fact, NC State updated those talking points recently.
Our state takes production bragging rights for at least three of the top holiday dishes. North Carolina ranks 1, 2 and 3 throughout the U.S. in sweetpotatoes, turkey and ham, respectively.
“I can just about guarantee that someone can make an entire holiday meal just on what is produced in North Carolina. Turkey, goose, duck, quail, chicken… sweetpotatoes, squash, sweet corn, beans, carrots, onions, broccoli, well I guess some people even eat cauliflower,” says Jesse Grimes, turkey management Extension specialist.
It's also easy to forget a few of those other non-A list crops as well, according to NC State.
Don’t forget that the state grows a variety of fruits great for incorporating into desserts, including strawberry and blueberry crumble, peach cobbler, apple or pumpkin pie. And last but not least, there are nearly 200 wineries and over 300 breweries to add festive libations to any celebration.
And that's not all. As referenced at the beginning of this post, Christmas trees are also a point of pride as NC tends to rank in the top 2 of all Christmas tree sales.
Image courtesy of NC State
