US Food Capitals

It is nice to know where were the sources of the foods we ate everyday. Some probably an export but most probably produced just around some part of America. Based on some of what i've read, California has a wide farm land and theres probably most of the fresh produce comes from. Most States probably has it's own sources of there own food and some foods were imports from other States. Like this...

Cincinnati - Chili Capital
Cincinnati, Ohio, doesn’t serve up the Tex-Mex chili most are used to, but surely has the most chili restaurants of any city in the United States. Created in the 1920s by immigrant restaurateurs, Cincinnati chili has more in common with a Mediterranean stew, its beef spiced more with cumin and cinnamon than chile peppers. You get it two-way (over spaghetti), three-way (over spaghetti with cheese), four-way (over spaghetti with cheese and beans or onions) or five-way (over spaghetti with cheese, onions, and beans). Empress Chili was the progenitor, but the Goldstar and Skyline chains are the largest, each with dozens of outlets in Cincinnati and elsewhere. Skyline met with such success that it went public in 1986 and was bought up by Fleet Equity Partners in the late 1990s. Of course, the city’s healthy appetite for its beloved creation fosters a trove of independent eateries, still serving it whatever way you like.

San Francisco – Burrito Capital
The giant burritos beloved by cheap food aficionados do have an ancestral home, and somewhat surprisingly, it’s the Mission District of San Francisco. The Mission burrito folds in rice, guac, sour cream and sometimes more into the bean/cheese/meat blend, thus creating legendary burritos as big as your head. The true origins are murky — modern legends always are — but folks generally agree that the taqueria El Faro was the first to create this iteration back in 1961. And with well over 100 places across the city where you can pig out, debate about which joint is the best is hot. But in the Mission, you can’t go wrong with La Cumbre, El Farolito or La Taqueria.

Gainesville, Ga. - Poultry Capital of the World
In Georgia, the General Assembly declared the whole state the Poultry Capital of the World in 1995. A slew of data backs up the claim—or at least the claim of the entire Southeast U.S. —and Georgia is an enormous producer of the broilers that we all devour. But in 1977, Gainesville, Ga., beat its parent to the punch, asserting that the town itself, a center of poultry production, was in fact the Poultry Capital of the World. See for yourself in the Georgia Poultry Park in downtown Gainesville, where you’ll find the chicken monument—a twenty-five foot high marble statue, topped with a three-foot rooster, with information about the poultry industry decorating its base.

Mendota, Ill. – Corn Capital
Beauty pageants occupy a strange place in the American landscape. Some people find Miss America, Miss USA and their ilk offensive, but in some towns, beauty pageants are an adorably retro centerpiece of the harvest festivities. Halfway between Chicago and Davenport, Iowa, the town of Mendota, Ill., has offered its Sweet Corn Festival since 1948, bringing under one umbrella festivities that have taken place in a variety of forms for nearly one hundred years. Today, they draw about 60,000 people who eat fifty to sixty tons of sweet corn (from Del Monte, which maintains a major operation there) over one weekend in August, and award a local high school girl the title of Miss Sweet Corn Queen amidst the craft dealers, live bands and carnival.

Gilroy, Calif. – Garlic Capital of the World
For those unafraid of garlic breath, take a trip to Gilroy, Calif., at the end of July. One of the largest harvest festivals in the country, Gilroy—laying claim to the title of Garlic Capital of the World—serves up two tons of garlic in a wide range of dishes including garlic ice cream, of all things. Since its inception in 1979 as a charitable event, the Gilroy Garlic Festival has raised over $8 million for nonprofit organizations in the area, and attracts over 100,000 visitors to its celebratory weekend—including a handful of young women from the region, who can breathe a bit more easily (if not less garlicky) when they announce who has captured the tiara of Miss Gilroy Garlic Queen.

More corn capitals?
Speaking of corn, it should surprise no one that America’s heartland is home to a couple of contenders for Corn Capital. Olivia, Minn., lays claim to the throne as a center of production and agricultural research (including agri-giants Monsanto and BASF) and has been designated as such by the Minnesota State Senate. There’s a 25-foot tall ear of corn that tops a gazebo in its Memorial Park to prove it. The Corn Capital Days celebration, featuring not only a corn toss, but also the Corn-lympics, pops off at the end of July.
But Mitchell, S.D., is no slouch—it’s celebrated the cereal grain we all know and love since 1892 with the Mitchell Corn Palace. Twice, the Corn Palace outgrew its homes, and its third incarnation, completed in 1921, is the one we know today. Both its façade and internal walls of the Palace’s auditorium feature murals made entirely of corn kernels, celebrating an annually changing theme. If you’re in South Dakota at the end of August, you can check out the “Everyday Heroes” display for yourself at the yearly Corn Palace Festival.

Blueberry Capital(s) of the World
In 1984, Ronald Reagan lent credence to Hammonton, N.J.’s claim to being Blueberry Capital of the World, by, well, calling it that in a campaign speech as he ran for re-election. But Hammonton does have a legit claim, with soil perfectly suited to cultivating New Jersey’s state fruit. And with a festival that the former President would have loved—the Red, White, and Blueberry Festival—now entering its 22nd year, it’s not likely they’d give up the title any time soon. But wait! Portland, Oregon has a festival of the same name! And South Haven, Mich., plays host to the National Blueberry Festival, featuring tribute bands and a cook-off that in 2007 featured delectable treats like a Blueberry Crème ‘Blue’ Lee and Blueberry Ginger Dressing Sauce. I’m not sure who wins the blueberry throwdown, but it’s sure to be messy.