Popcorn now Illinois state snack

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. -- Next time you order popcorn at the movies or throw a bag into the microwave, show a little respect.

That's not just a snack you're getting. It's the "official state snackfood" of Illinois, thanks to legislation signed Monday by Gov. Rod Blagojevich.

Lawmakers who backed popcorn for the honor turned their backs on Beer Nuts, Lemonhead candy and other goodies produced in Illinois. But the rivals seemed to take the loss in stride.

"I think it's great. As long as Illinois corn can be used and represented to the rest of the world, we're happy about that," said Connie Heffelmire, vice president of a little Pleasant Plains company, Prairie Foods, that makes a snack called Corn Crunch.

"There is nothing we would like more than to be the state snack, but we've got a lot of competition," said Cindy Shirk, marketing director for Beer Nuts Inc. She said the snack, though produced in Bloomington, might be at a disadvantage because it is made from Georgia peanuts.

The move to honor popcorn started as a class project at a Joliet elementary school, where Blagojevich signed the bill into law.

"While the students learned a lesson in civics, we hope that the publicity the children receive will spur the production, consumption and passion for popcorn in Illinois even more," Blagojevich said in a statement.

Popcorn now joins the cardinal (state bird), square dance (state dance) and drummer silty clay loam (state soil) as an official symbol of Illinois.

Illinois is one of the top popcorn-growing states in the nation. In 2001, it ranked fourth in acres of popcorn harvested, with 23,376. The leader, Nebraska, had 81,147, according to the Popcorn Board, an industry marketing group.

'We'll take it'

"Obviously, we're thrilled," said the board's marketing manager, Wendy Boersema, who said she does not know of any other state that has named popcorn the state snack.

Only a tiny fraction of the corn growing in Illinois fields is popcorn. Popcorn farmers are not even represented by the Illinois Corn Growers Association, although spokesman Mark Lambert said he welcomes popcorn's new status as the state snack.

"If it makes people feel warm and fuzzy toward corn, we'll take it," he said.

The little town of Ridgway, about 60 miles east of Carbondale, has been a pocket of popcorn production in Illinois for about 40 years, said local farmer Carl Foster. Production has dwindled since the processing plant closed in January, putting about 35 people out of work.

But "Popcorn Farmers Day" is still being celebrated this summer, and Ridgway is still billing itself as popcorn capital of the world, although Foster, who has stopped raising popcorn, says the claim may not literally be true.

"We always did that. No one argued with us," he said.

Blagojevich also signed legislation Monday that requires local governments to protect the jobs and seniority of employees called to active military service.