Poll: What’s your favorite potato-based food?
According to National Day Calendar, August 19th is 'National Potato Day,' (along with being International Bow Day, National Aviation Day and National Soft Ice Cream Day). But here in the state of Maine, the potato reigns supreme.
Maine is traditionally among the top-10 states in the U.S. each year when it comes to potato production. Back in the early 20th century, the Pine Tree State probably should've been called the Potato State, as it was the nation's top producer of potatoes before Idaho took the crown in 1957 and never looked back.
Today, Maine is usually around 9th in the yearly rankings, with an average yield of close to two billion pounds per year. In fact, according to the Aroostook County Tourism website, "Nearly 25 percent of Maine’s potato production is for seed to supply the east coast. Another 45 percent is used for french fry processing, 20 percent for potato chips and 10 percent for the fresh market for home, restaurant and institutional raw potato use."
In total, potatoes provide more than 6000 jobs in the state, while total sales are in excess of $540,000,000, which brings in roughly $233,500,000 in income to the state annually.
To make a long story short - potatoes are pretty crucial to what we do here in Maine.
What's your favorite way to consume one of the state's most-valuable crops?