Florida Senate - 2022                                    SB 1006
       
       
        
       By Senator Burgess
       
       
       
       
       
       20-00544-22                                           20221006__
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to state symbols; creating s. 15.0522,
    3         F.S.; designating strawberry shortcake as the official
    4         state dessert; providing an effective date.
    5  
    6         WHEREAS, more than 10,000 acres of strawberries are planted
    7  annually in the greater Plant City area, accounting for 75
    8  percent of the United States’ winter strawberry crop, and
    9         WHEREAS, beginning in the spring of 1930, and again in 1948
   10  after a 6-year hiatus during and following World War II, the
   11  Florida Strawberry Festival, held in Plant City and organized by
   12  the Plant City Lions Club, was revived by American Legion Post
   13  #26, and other area civic organizations, and
   14         WHEREAS, each spring, the Florida Strawberry Festival
   15  welcomes visitors from around the world to celebrate this slice
   16  of Americana and the area’s bountiful harvests, and
   17         WHEREAS, approximately 200,000 strawberry shortcakes, the
   18  festival’s signature dessert, are served each year at the
   19  Florida Strawberry Festival, making it a staple among festival
   20  attendees, and
   21         WHEREAS, strawberry shortcake is a dessert consisting of a
   22  base of shortcake, which resembles a biscuit with a touch of
   23  cake, a layer of sweet, sliced strawberries, and a healthy
   24  dollop of whipped cream, and
   25         WHEREAS, in 2000, Guinness World Records recognized Plant
   26  City as home of the biggest shortcake in the world, NOW,
   27  THEREFORE,
   28  
   29  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   30  
   31         Section 1. Section 15.0522, Florida Statutes, is created to
   32  read:
   33         15.0522 Official state dessert.—Strawberry shortcake is
   34  designated as the official Florida state dessert.
   35         Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2022.