Corn, obviously.

A sharp rift has developed in the Empire State, creating a fault line that threatens to forever separate us from each other while wreaking havoc and destruction in its wake.

The source of the tension: vegetables.

Despite having an official fruit and bird (the apple and the bluebird respectively), New York finds itself without an officially recognized and designated State vegetable. To address this woeful void in Empire State Pride, the New York Farmer’s Bureau put up a poll on Facebook and asked people to choose between Sweet Corn or the Onion.

The people spoke, and Sweet Corn was the winner.

Well, sort of. Only 1,200 people participated in the voluntary poll, which some argue was not marketed effectively enough to reach a desired audience that would care and be informed on such matters. Onion is also the official vegetable in one form or another for three other states – Georgia, Texas, and Utah. In Washington State they named the official State vegetable the “Walla Walla Sweet Onion,” but I refuse to recognize it on the basis of it sounds stupid.

Not surprisingly, the debate was born out of partisan politics. Democratic State Sen. David Carlucci of New York City introduced a bill in support of the black dirt onion as the official State vegetable, while his sworn nemesis Sen. Michael Nozzolio, a Republican out of Lafayette, suggested corn. In choosing the onion, Carlucci is no doubt pandering in an empty gesture to certain constituents that desire we tax and spend the Hell out of our crops, artificially inflating the vegetable to an undeserved status. Nozzolio, on the other hand, is a sweet corn booster, no doubt because he subscribes to the internet conspiracy theory that states onions aren’t actually grown in the United States despite all evidence to the contrary.

So, should a Facebook poll be the end of it? Are we stuck with sweet corn, or should we give the onion a chance?

And what about the other two obvious choices: cabbage, which is the State’s most abundant vegetable, and Carl Paladino? Both were tragically left out of this debate. Politics as usual in the All-America City.

Share your thoughts and let us know which side you’re on. But please, keep it civil if you can.

Note: the legalization of Mixed Martial Arts, a real issue whose absence is losing us literally millions upon millions of dollars in revenue every year to nearby States such as New Jersey, is still not being addressed by the State Legislature.

 

20 Responses to The Great Empire State Vegetable Debate

  1. Rob Madeo says:

    Navigating this corn issue is like finding your way through a maize! Har, har, har…

    Anyway, I vote for cabbage. Go, cabbage!

  2. Bill says:

    You’d think that with all the other issues NY is having that we’d at least get something as basic as a state vegetable choice correct. Corn’s not a vegetable, folks. Never has been, never will be. It’s a grain. Look it up. Onion is a vegetable but as you mention is already “claimed” by other states. Green beans, cabbage, peas and (arguably) the potato are all prominent NY crops.

    • Slight correction, Bill. The term vegetable can be defined as the root/stem/leaf/anything but the seed, but that’s not actually a stringent definition. The term can be and usually is considered a culinary rather than agricultural term, and as such corn can be considered a grain until it’s prepared, at which point it is designated and classified as a vegetable.

      Sweet corn in particular, due to the manner in which it is harvested (earlier than other forms of corn) and prepared, is widely classified as a vegetable.

  3. Bill says:

    @Kevin: I see your point and do understand the distinction (had a friendly family argument recently about pumpkin being a fruit, which it is) but considering states also have State Grains, making NY’s State Vegetable corn looks a bit ignorant.

    • Bill – Not really, though, because the argument that it isn’t a vegetable is specious at best and isn’t all that accurate given the malleable nature of the definition of vegetable.

      It’s worth noting, too, that only two states have official State Grains: Minnesota and Arkansas. Both rice.

  4. K. Judge says:

    I vote Corn, black dirt onion just sounds so dirty

  5. Ann says:

    Stupid democrats with their stupid onions! Who do they think they are!

    ACtually, it is odd that the vegetable we grow the most here wasn’t an option.

  6. Alan says:

    This is way too corny for me.

  7. HomeTownGirl says:

    How did we get down to only debating between 2 veggies? What happened to all the other veggies? Did I miss those polls? I’m a little offended that I am limited to just two choices in this matter. Anyway, I vote for radishes. Go Radishes!!

  8. Tom Haverford says:

    I’ve seen more corn fields in this area than any other “vegetable”, get’s my vote.. what kind of idiot backs the onion anyway..

  9. Brad says:

    Having grown up in a rural suburb of Syracuse (amidst fields and fields of sweet corn) I wouldn’t have thought that the State’s most produced vegetable was cabbage. You learn something new everyday.

    I propose debate for a “State Drink”: Milk, or Genessee Beer.

  10. Sue says:

    “Should a facebook poll be the end of it?”

    Naturally. Facebook is obviously the most official and judicious way to make this type of decision.

    But I’d have voted for Carl Paladino.

  11. EZ says:

    Oklahoma’s state vegetable is the watermelon.

    I vote for alfalfa or bean sprouts, which are vital in keeping the soil nutrient rich for corn crops.

  12. Bill says:

    Screw it, I vote for beer.

  13. Will King says:

    Brad(#11) – What about Stewart’s Mountain Brew?! (I realize it’s made by Genny, but what the hell!)

  14. Kate says:

    Corn isn’t a vegetable. It’s a commodity.

  15. Chris says:

    I got a dirty black onion… uuhh!

  16. Brad says:

    @ Will – Thank you so much for pointing this beer out to me! I feel like I’ve been missing out. Stewart’s never ceases to amaze me.

  17. Michelle says:

    I vote corn.. i love it, it my favorite vegetable.. YAY CORN !!

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