Who knew? New Jersey is the home of the eggplant

Man, did I learn a lot about eggplant today. While I’m not particularly fond of them, knowing that New Jersey provides the bulk of eggplants in the country is kind of cool.

In a story by “Produce Pete” in the Daily Record, he reports that 66% of the world’s eggplants start their life in New Jersey, especially South Jersey. Produce Pete has some interesting facts about eggplants including how they got their name: eggplants were originally white and looked like eggs. But their white color showed bruises too easily so growers bred darker eggplants to hide the bruises, resulting in the purple color they have today.

Some of the counties in New Jersey that produce the eggplants are Gloucester, Salem, Cumberland, and Atlantic. Apparently the type of soil they need is abundant in the Garden State, hence our prominence in the eggplant game. According to Wikipedia, the eggplant is not a vegetable, but a berry!

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