How did this come about? Well the Artichoke was declared the California state vegetable stemming from a contest that started on KGO 810 radio in San Francisco they were talking to the Lieutenant Governor Gavin Newsom about declaring a state food. So they decided to have a little contest each of the nominees which were California Artichokes, California Avocado's, Crab, Wine Grapes, Sourdough Bread, and California Wine Grapes each had a spokesperson come on the radio and give a passionate speech about why there selected food or wine as it were should become the new California State Food. Then KGO Radio started taking votes on their Facebook page for each of the entrants. Well it turns out that the Mighty California Artichoke beat them all I think mainly because of the passionate speech of it's spokesperson I don't know her name but she certainly expanded my horizons about Artichokes. Gavin Newsom's Proclamation
The lieutenant Governor being the politcian that he is not only proclaimed the Artichoke as the state vegetable but also the avocado as the state fruit and the almond as the state nut and rice and the state grain. This was all kind of tongue in cheek as hey what are you going to do to exercise your power while the Governor is out of the country and you have the full power of the office of Governor. This will be a great thing for Watsonville which is already the Artichoke Capital of the World. But now it's truly official. The California Artichoke is The California State Vegetable.
dainties (CC), a photo by marfis75 on Flickr.
