Some Tennessee Vegetable Facts...
 Currently, the largest acreage of vegetables
in Tennessee is snap beans. Centered in the Crossville area, they're grown
on 6,000 to 11,000 acres and are worth $5 to $10 million to the area economy
each year.
Marketed and used as a vegetable but actually a fruit,
tomatoes are the biggest vegetable crop dollarwise. About 5,500 acres grown
statewide contributes $20 to $25 million annually to the state's economy.
 Sweet corn, grown for local sales in about
every county in the state, brings in another $3 to $4 million.
Marketed as a vegetable, pumpkins grow on about 4,300 acres
throughout the state. If all the pumpkins grown in Tennessee could be harvested
at one time, from 1,300 to 1,500 eighteen-wheel trucks could be filled with
45,000 lbs. of pumpkins each. Their value to the Tennessee economy is between
$6 and $7 million.
Several Tennessee farm families grow squash, cabbage, peppers
and okra. Others growing a limited acreage of sweet potatoes receive a favorable
income.
The commercial vegetable industry in 24 East Tennessee
counties was worth more than $50 million in 1997.
Source: Dr. Alvin Rutledge | 