There’s a Bill to Change Missouri’s State Food to Something Weird

I want to be clear that I'm a fan of the food that a Missouri State Representative just submitted to make it the state's official dish. But, by any measure, it would be a weird staple to represent the Show Me State.

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Kudos to Ozarks First for noticing this before me. It refers to Missouri House Bill HB1624. The sponsor of the bill according to the legislature site is Representative Jamie Gragg. Based on Jamie's bio, he's spent much of his life in the Ozarks/Branson area which explains a lot about this new Missouri state food suggestion.

What is the food that Representative Jamie Gragg wants to make Missouri's official delicacy?

The Missouri House of Representatives website explains HB1624 in one profound sentence:

Designates cashew chicken as the official dish of the state of Missouri

As strange as this might sound to someone not from the Ozarks, it's very much something that certain parts of southern Missouri are known for. How odd would it be for this to unseat ice cream as the current official state food.

While I love the thought of explaining the cashew chicken designation to my out-of-state friends, I think it's gonna face an uphill challenge for official adoption since it's so specifically associated with the Springfield area, but I could be very wrong.

As of this writing, the Missouri House of Representatives website says House Bill HB1624 is not on the calendar to be voted on and there are no hearings yet. But, it's Missouri, so you just might see a push to make cashew chicken the official state food yet.