Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler sits down each week with Southern Farm Network’s Rhonda Garrison to discuss “Today’s Topic.”
February is Sweet Potato Month in North Carolina, and restaurants across the state are part of the celebration.
About 50 restaurants across the state are featuring sweet potatoes on their menus this month. It’s all part of the “Signature Sweets” promotion sponsored by the N.C. SweetPotato Commission.
People think about sweet potatoes being baked or cooked in a casserole or a pie. But they can be fixed a variety of ways, and this promotion will showcase that versatility. Restaurants will be using sweet potatoes in appetizers, entrees, side dishes and desserts.
A list of participating restaurants is online. Recipes will be added after the promotion ends.
North Carolina is the nation’s top producer of sweet potatoes, accounting for nearly half the country’s crop. In 2014, North Carolina farmers harvested almost 1.6 billion pounds of sweet potatoes from 72,000 acres. Production was up 49 percent from 2013.
Sweet potatoes also are becoming popular exports. About one of every four rows of sweet potatoes planted in our state is exported. Demand for North Carolina sweet potatoes has been growing in Germany, The Netherlands, Belgium and France.
Click on the audio player below to listen to Commissioner Troxler and Rhonda discuss the “Signature Sweets” promotion and why sweet potatoes are available year-round.
[Audio:http://info.ncagr.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/Troxler_2-102.mp3|titles=Today’s Topic for Feb. 10]
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