New York's corny choice?

Is there a kernel of truth to the rumor that sweet corn is about to be named the state vegetable of New York? Yes! A bill to that effect is working its way through the maize -- er, we mean maze -- of the legislative process in Albany. Passage in the Senate in the next week or so is considered (sigh) a can of corn.

Corn's main competitor for official status was the onion, but after a bit of a food-fight it failed to penetrate the capital's many-layered politics. Yet even if the onion is for some reason held in bad odor in Albany, the choice of sweet corn is surprising. Some people, after all, think it a grain (nope -- that's field corn, used in tortillas and the like). And some blame it, in the form of high fructose corn syrup, for the obesity crisis. So will corn pass the Assembly? No word yet, but naturally we're all ears.