May is Arkansas Heritage Month, a time when the Department of Arkansas Heritage asks Arkansans to take note of the state’s rich and colorful history. This year’s theme for Heritage Month is “Come to the Table: Celebrating the Flavors of Arkansas.”

For a list of Heritage Month events near you visit ArkansasHeritage.com. And even though Heritage Month is in May, you can celebrate the spirit of the month by visiting any number of food festivals throughout the year.

In observance of Heritage Month, we’ve put together some fun facts about Arkansas’ fascinating and flavorful food history that many people may not know.

1. Arkansas ranks No. 1 in the nation for the production of rice. The Top 5 rice-producing counties are Arkansas, Poinsett, Cross, Lawrence and Lonoke. Arkansas rice is known for its versatility and can be used in a wide variety of cuisines.

2. A lot of parents will remember Popeye the Sailor. The squinty-eyed hero was always at battle with his “frenemy” Brutus for the affection of Olive Oyl, and he worked tirelessly to protect the dainty Olive from danger. Whenever Popeye needed an energy boost to beat Brutus or save Olive at the last minute, he’d pop open a can of spinach, his muscles would grow and he’d bop Brutus good or pluck Olive from peril. Well, many people don’t know that Popeye brand spinach comes from Allens Canning Co. headquartered in Siloam Springs (Benton County).

Because the Allens facility in Alma, cans more than half of all the spinach canned in the U.S. – about 60 million pounds a year – Alma has become known at the Spinach Capital of the World. The town erected a statue of cartoon character Popeye the Sailor, which stands in front of the Chamber of Commerce building, and began hosting an annual Spinach Festival. The town water tower was painted to resemble a can of Allens Popeye spinach.

3. Those chicken nuggets children love probably come from Arkansas too. Tyson Foods Inc. is the largest processor and marketer of chicken in the country, and it’s based in Springdale (Washington County).

4. Cave City (Sharp and Independence counties) is known for its watermelons. When driving into town, the welcome sign there declares Cave City as “Home of the World’s Sweetest Watermelons.” The 34th Annual Cave City Watermelon Festival will be held in August.

The residents of Hope in Hempstead County might disagree with the folks in Cave City about having the sweetest watermelons. The Hope Watermelon Festival is four years older than Cave City’s and is also held in August.

5. Mulberry, in Crawford County, held its first Edamame Festival as the town seeks to become known as the Edamame Capital of the U.S. It’s the only town in this country that grows the tender immature soybean. Edamame, which is high in fiber, protein, carbohydrates, vitamin K and other nutrients, is common in Asian cuisines. Arkansas ranks 10th in the nation for the production of all types of soybeans.

6. Love Subway? When you have a $5 Footlong, the tomatoes on those sandwiches likely came from Arkansas. The restaurant chain works with Triple M Farms in Hamburg (Ashley County) to grow bell peppers and tomatoes for Subway sandwiches. A spokesman for Subway said: “Whenever and wherever possible, we try to use locally grown produce in our restaurants.”

Speaking of tomatoes, did you know they’re actually a fruit, not a vegetable, and are loaded with vitamins? Arkansas ranks 12th in the nation for the production of tomatoes. A lot of those also come from Bradley County, which is famous for the Pink Tomato Festival which will be held June 12-14.

7. While many kids don’t think of tomatoes as fruit, they readily identify peaches as fruit. Arkansas ranks 19th in the country for the production of peaches, and no place are they as popular as in Johnson County. The Johnson County Peach Festival, July 25-26, is considered the oldest food festival in the state. At 72, it surpasses the Pink Tomato Festival by 14 years.

8. On game day or any day, you can’t beat a bowl of cheese dip and chips. Whether you like to dip your chips or smother them in the melted cheese, you can thank an Arkansan for ooey gooey concoction. It’s commonly held that Blackie Donnelly, a Central Arkansas restaurateur and owner of Mexico Chiquito introduced the world and restaurant menus to cheese dip in 1935. Go to CheeseDip.net to check out the 20-minute documentary “Queso Fever” to hear the tale of how Donnelly traveled with his wife annually to buy spices for their Tex-Mex dishes including cheese dip.

Sources: U of A Division of Agriculture, Research and Extension, The Encyclopedia of Arkansas, Arkansas.com