DYK? Sweetpotato is one word

One source of pride in our state is how integral the state's agricultural and food resources are to the holidays, as we have noted before. 

It's almost impossible to have a Thanksgiving meal without some part of North Carolina touching the dinner table. 

• Turkeys!
• Christmas trees!
• Ham!
• and ....
• SWEETPOTATOES.

What's that? We spelled that last one wrong? Not so fast, my friend.

According to John Hart with Southeast Farm Press, the one-word spelling is correct since the "industry says is not a potato, but a root vegetable. The one-word name sweetpotato, Hart tells us, is more scientifically correct."

In fact, the official NC Sweetpotato website states the same:

The North Carolina SweetPotato Commission deliberately spells sweetpotato  as one word unless directly quoting a source where it is spelled as two words  i.e., sweet potato).  The one-word spelling was officially adopted by the National Sweetpotato Collaborators in 1989.  Sweetpotato (Ipomoea batatas) must not be confused in the minds of shippers, distributors, warehouse workers, and above all consumers with the equally unique and distinctive potato (Solanum tuberosum) or the yam (Dioscorea sp.) which are also grown and marketed commercially in the United States. Please join us in using the scientific one-word spelling of our state vegetable, the North Carolina Sweetpotato!

There ya have it. Enjoy that sweetpotato pie this Thanksgiving!