Strawberry fields forever! Shortcake’s Florida state dessert

FILE - Ripe strawberries wait to be picked at the "U-Pick" field at Knaus Berry Farm in Homestead, Fla., on Jan. 11, 2012. The Florida House voted 109-4 on Friday, March 4, 2022, to send the governor a bill that would make strawberry shortcake the official state dessert. Key Lime Pie is already Florida’s state pie. The designation of the state dessert is an effort to promote the state’s $1 billion strawberry industry. (AP Photo/J Pat Carter, File) (J Pat Carter, Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

PLANT CITY, Fla. – Strawberry shortcake will become Florida’s state dessert after Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill at the festival that celebrates the fruit.

DeSantis was joined Monday by the 1993 Strawberry Festival Queen, current Attorney General Ashley Moody, as he took a bite of the dessert before signing the bill in Plant City. Florida already has a state pie — key lime.

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But DeSantis said strawberry shortcake deserves the designation.

Plant City is the heart of the state’s strawberry farming. The region has 10,000 acres of strawberry fields that produce 75% of the nation’s winter strawberry crop.


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