In 2007, House Bill 1669 was introduced to the Oklahoma House of Representatives to sanction watermelon as the state's official vegetable (via Snopes). The bill was sponsored by Democratic State Rep. Joe Dorman, and Republican State Sen. Don Barrington.
Barrington has been a longtime watermelon booster. He represents the Rush Springs district constituency, where the state's annual watermelon festival is held each year (via The Focus). According to The Guardian, he even won a competition in 1994 for spitting a watermelon seed the furthest distance. It's likely that Barrington and Dorman, who also represents Rush Springs, hoped that by giving the watermelon an official designation, it would help boost its reputation (via The Wall Street Journal). As NPR reports, the strawberry was already designated as the state fruit, which may have forced the broadened classification.
Throughout the debates, legislators argued over the definitions of fruits and vegetables. Barrington claimed that while it was classically considered a fruit, the watermelon's placement in the Curcurbitaceae family makes it a relative of the cucumber, pumpkin, and squash, and is therefore a vegetable (via Snopes). It must be noted that these relatives are actually considered fruits by the botanical definition, but would be considered vegetables in a culinary sense per Healthline.
The bill was passed by a 78 to 19 vote by the chamber, and, in the words of Barrington: "[The] controversy on whether watermelon is a fruit or vegetable has been officially decided by the Oklahoma legislature."
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June 07, 2022 at 01:21AM
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Why Watermelon Is Officially Considered A Vegetable In Oklahoma - Tasting Table
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