A few official foods may not be found on today's dinner tables, but they played a role in the survival of native Americans and early pioneer settlers — the sego lily in Utah, Indian rice grass in both Utah and Nevada, Alaska's bowhead whale, the golden poppy in California and bitterroot in Montana. Lewis and Clark wrote about the beautiful purplish-pink flower of the bitterroot, which was too bitter to eat unless it was cooked, and it was usually mixed with berries or meat.

Kansas, Wyoming and Oklahoma all recognize bison, which roamed their lands in huge herds during the 1800s but were nearly wiped out. Likewise, Maryland's diamondback terrapin (turtle) was once so abundant that it was a staple diet of slaves and indentured servants in the early 1800s. Then in the late 1800s, terrapin soup, laced with cream and sherry, became a gourmet delicacy among the wealthy. The demand nearly decimated the local terrapin population, prompting laws to protect it, according to the April 2005 issue of Chesapeake Bay Magazine.

Utahns may remember comedian Bill Cosby's visit in 2001, to lobby legislators to make Jell-O Utah's official snack. In 1997, Jell-O officials confirmed that Utah had the highest per-capita consumption of fruit-flavored gelatin in the country. When Utah's Jell-O sales slipped and Iowa took over that distinction in 1999, it sparked a local campaign (with a lot of support from the Jell-O folks) to "Take Back the Title," recounted in past Deseret Morning News articles. After Utah was once again on top of the heap, the legislature humored Jell-O spokesman Cosby and passed a resolution recognizing the jiggly dessert.

A couple of states recognize food festivals, such as Alabama's Christmas on the River Barbecue Championship. Last month Texas named the Dutch oven its official state cooking implement. The cast-iron pot, used over many a campfire by pioneers and cowboys, was named Utah's state cooking pot in 1997. That was apparently a foodie year at the state capitol, as the cherry became the state fruit and the Bonneville cutthroat trout became the state fish.

Oklahoma adopted an official state meal in 1988: Barbecued pork, chicken-fried steak, sausage with biscuits and gravy, fried okra and squash, grits, corn, black-eyed peas, corn bread, strawberries and pecan pie. Even the heartiest of Oklahoma appetites would have a hard time polishing off all those foods in one sitting.