Georgia is Very Intentionally Known for Their Peaches



Georgia is proud to be called the Peach State, and that branding is everywhere, from water towers to the many streets named Peachtree in Atlanta. How did the state get that way? Peaches aren't a native fruit in America- they came from China by way of Europe. And when colonists found peach trees growing across the south, they didn't much like them. Instead, they started growing cotton, mostly for export, and made a ton of money. Even today, the cotton crop in Georgia is bigger than peaches, but "the land of cotton" as a slogan doesn't resonate the way it did 200 years ago.   

How peaches became the symbol of Georgia is a neat story, but the most useful thing you'll learn is the difference between cling peaches and freestone peaches, which is good to know when you're at the grocery store. This video has a sponsor ad from 4:12 to 4:54. 


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Back in the 1990s, a good friend of mine from South Carolina (technically a transplant to SC) complained about Georgia's reputation as the peach state, since SC produced more peaches than GA. I never verified that fact. Finally, some 30+ years later, and at timestamp 4:55, I see that he was right.

He didn't mention that CA produced a lot more - nor about the postbellum reasons for the how Georgia got that reputation. Thanks for sharing the link!
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I much prefer apricots. Where's the apricot state? Looks like 90% are from California, 10% from Washington, so Cali it is. California will henceforth be known as the apricot state, and we'll all just forget about that gold, bears, and sunshine thing.
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