This post is dedicated to any and all who live in, have lived in, or who will ever live in Idaho. Also, to anyone who likes potatoes. I know that Idahoans get sick of hearing potato jokes, but since I used to live there too, that means I can officially make fun of it.
For those of you unfamiliar with maps, the red one is Idaho.
Idaho had a contest to come up with the best state slogan. They wanted it to be truthful, yet alluring. They waited weeks and weeks, but no submissions came. The deadline was approaching, so finally they just pulled a farmer out of his field and asked him to describe Idaho. So now Idaho's state slogan reads:
Idaho: More than just potatoes... Well, we're not, but they sure are darn good potatoes!
The potato is the second-most consumed food in the United States. The average American consumes 120 pounds of spuds, or 360 potatoes, each year. That is almost one per day. Since Idaho produces one third of the nation's potatoes, this means they must grow approximately 36,840,786,000, or 36.8 billion, potatoes every year. That is a lot of starch.
To grow that many taters, it takes a lot of labor. This is why many farming communities, including the lovely town of Rexburg, have what is known as "Potato Harvest Week". Usually the first week of October, school is let out for a week so that the children and teenagers can help gather the ripened tubers. Farmers hire kids for the week for various jobs, including: driving the Tater Truck, sorting potatoes, separating the good spuds from dirt and weeds, or even run the coveted crane piler that stacks the potatoes. The days are long, often extending into the wee hours of the night, and the work monotonous, but it offers a pretty chunk of cash to those willing to participate-up to $1000 for the week. ($1000 may not seem like a lot to some of you, but I had a job over the summer and barely made that much in three months.) For the average student, this is a win-win situation. You can either earn a bunch of money, or you get an entire week off of school to do what you will.
Now, it's time for some more classy Idaho and/or potato jokes.
"I think," said the sweet potato, "therefore, I yam".
You know you live in Idaho when you end your sentences with unnecessary prepositions, i.e.: "Where's my coat at?", "If you go into town, I wanna go with."
Q: Why didn't the mother potato want her daughter to marry the famous newscaster?
A: Because he was just a common-tater.
You know you live in Idaho when "vacation" means going to Boise for the weekend.
Q: Why did the Irish potato emigrate to America?
A: He found the United States more a-pealing.
But seriously, Idaho is a wonderful place. Home of the knock-off BYU (no offense) and real Idaho mashed potatoes. I do love mashed potatoes.
*Thanks to my friend Trevor for giving me the idea and information for this post!
You may have lived there but.... I was BORN there ;)
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