TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Strawberry shortcake will turn into Florida’s state dessert after Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a invoice Monday at the Florida Strawberry Pageant in Plant Metropolis.
DeSantis was joined by the 1993 Strawberry Pageant Queen, present Lawyer Basic Ashley Moody, as he took a chunk of the dessert earlier than signing the invoice.
“She’s recognized extra in these components not even for being lawyer basic, however being a former queen of the Florida Strawberry Pageant,” DeSantis stated.
Florida already has a state pie — key lime.
“Folks will nonetheless be capable to do key lime as the official state pie, this would be the official state dessert,” DeSantis stated. “Simply right here within the strawberry competition, they serve 200,000 strawberry shortcakes, which is an terrible lot. This has been occurring since 1930 and it’s a solution to have fun the strawberry crops.”
The designation of the state dessert is an effort to advertise the state’s $1 billion strawberry trade.
Plant Metropolis is the center of the state’s strawberry farming. The area has 10,000 acres (4,047 hectares) of strawberry fields that produce 75% of the nation’s winter strawberry crop.
