Inviting the North Carolina Farmer to Your Table

December 20, 2025
Friends,

With five days until Christmas, I hope you are winding down for the end of the year and looking forward to spending time with family and friends. My family is spread throughout the world this year, but I am forever grateful to my North Carolina family, who have welcomed me into their homes, farms, combines, and offices since I started with the NC Ag Partnership in August.
 
I’ve been thinking a lot about the Christmas meals that I hope all of us will get to partake in next week. Many of the dishes will be similar: turkey, ham, deviled eggs, sweetpotato casserole, green beans, collards, and a whole mess of other sides. Plus, the main event, dessert – apple pies, pumpkin and pecan pies, and apparently something called sonker that I just learned about this week. More on that in a minute.
 
This meal is significant because all of its main ingredients are produced here in North Carolina. But what strikes me as I think about people gathering around their tables next week is that by hosting dinner, you are inviting the North Carolina farmer to your table. These meals tell so much about the history and culture of North Carolina, about what we grow best, and about the farmers who adapted, invested, and endured through hardships to make these products widely available. 

During the year, I think we forget that agriculture and food are personal before they are political. People don’t have to understand ag policy or regulations to appreciate a meal, but our role as leaders in North Carolina agriculture is to ensure the voices of farmers and the realities of food production are rightly considered when decisions are made that affect the livelihood of farmers.
 
Now to a few NC Food Facts:
North Carolina is the #1 sweetpotato-producing state in the U.S., and with all of these recipes from the North Carolina Sweetpotato Commission, you have no reason not to have at least two dishes on your table this year. Note: a brown sugar crumble beats out marshmallows on top of sweetpotato casserole every time.

North Carolina is the #3 pork producer in the U.S., generates a $11.3 billion impact in the state, and sausage pairs perfectly with opening presents on Christmas morning.
Poultry is the #1 commodity in North Carolina, and more than 5,700 of our neighbors produce poultry and eggs.

North Carolina produces about 7.5 million eggs EVERY DAY. Deviled eggs are a staple at my table (always with paprika on top), and December 24 is National Eggnog Day. This article gives a pretty hilarious look at eggnog’s history.

North Carolina is a top ten producer of apples, and our apples are produced for both the fresh and processed markets. This crockpot apple butter belongs on your Christmas morning biscuits!
And finally, we need to talk about sonker. Until this week, I did not know this dessert existed, and I am in awe of it. Part pie and part cobbler, this dish is local to Surry County and may have originated as a way to stretch the use of all kinds of fruits that were nearing the end of ripeness. Much to my delight, I found out there is a Surry Sonker Trail where you can eat sonker and find lots of Yadkin Valley wine along the way. All this time, I have been hiking up Pilot Mountain and could have been eating dessert instead. Rest assured, this trail is on my to-do list next year.

And from all of us at the NC Ag Partnership, a very Merry Christmas to you and yours, and may your holiday tables be full of much cheer, many family and friends, and lots of North Carolina agriculture.
Merry Christmas,
Tori Rumenik 
Executive Director, North Carolina Ag Partnership