Caramel popcorn the ultimate snack. Photo by Dana McMahan / Flickr (noncommercial use permitted with attribution).
Official State Snack Food of Illinois
Illinois designated popcorn as the official state snack food in 2003 (corn is also the official state vegetable). All State Foods
There are 333 farms in Illinois that grow popcorn on 47,000 acres. Corn is native to the Americas, probably first cultivated in Mexico about 5,000 years ago; native Americans started growing corn in Illinois about 100 A.D.
Second and third-grade students at Cunningham Elementary School in Joliet proposed popcorn as the state snack food (with help from their teacher, Fran Hollister). State Senator Larry Walsh sponsored the bill.
