The beverage landscape of the United States is wide-ranging and diverse, whether you’re chugging coffee milk in Rhode Island, sipping Cheerwine in North Carolina, drinking Coca-Cola in Georgia, or tending to your silver-cupped mint julep at the Kentucky Derby. One could, if they wanted, tour America one sip at a time with no repetition. However, you wouldn’t know this if you made your list based on official state beverages alone. Of the 33 states that designate an official beverage, a whopping 20 states have chosen milk.
Given this statistic, one might assume that milk is essential both culturally and economically to these states, and some dairy-rich states, such as Wisconsin and Nebraska, are included on the list. For other states on the list, the choice is less obvious and, frankly, a bit of a head-scratcher. For example, South Carolina named milk its state beverage in 1984, but the state is not one of the highest milk-producing states in the country. So, what gives? Essentially, the wave of states choosing milk as their state beverage started in the 1980s when the milk industry was struggling with sagging sales and a surplus of product. This effort was a part of a larger campaign that would transform American culture. And though milk isn’t a culturally apt choice for many state beverages, it is a drink as American as apple pie, if not more emblematic of the big money behind so many legislative choices.
The story of state beverages
The story of milk as the go-to beverage starts, of course, with the advent of the state beverage itself. The establishment of a state beverage is a relatively new phenomenon, kicking off in Ohio. In 1965, Ohio declared its state beverage to be tomato juice. This choice was made official as a way of celebrating the Tomato Festival in Reynoldsburg. Florida followed in 1967, naming orange juice its state drink in a fitting tribute to its citrus-rich agricultural sector. In 1970, Massachusetts gave cranberry juice the honor. These choices by and large reflected the culture and agriculture of each state. However, this trend toward quirky, emblematic state beverage choices would soon turn all white — milk white, in fact, in the 1980s.
In 1980, the dairy industry faced a major surplus partly owing to Jimmy Carter’s milk subsidies, and the dairy industry was left scrambling. The industry and its lobbyists took it upon themselves to make milk a more vital and relevant part of America’s culture and economy. One part of this plan included influencing states to make milk their state beverage. These efforts have more than paid off. Of the 30 states with official beverages, 20 states claim milk (with partial credit to Rhode Island, which picked coffee milk as its state drink). This ubiquity has not gone unnoticed. In recent years, many states have pushed to make more culturally relevant drinks state official, to varying success.
Questioning milk as a state drink
Though milk is the official beverage for 20 states, it isn’t necessarily emblematic of every place it represents. In response to milk’s state beverage ubiquity, many locales have decided to choose another, more specific state drink. In the 1990s, many South Carolinians were not so pleased with the choice of milk as the state beverage. So, in 1995, the state added the South’s signature tea as its “state hospitality beverage.” This addendum allowed milk to remain the state’s official beverage while allowing room for a drink that is more emblematic of the state’s unique culture.
Other states, such as Virginia, have followed suit. Virginia named milk its official beverage in 1982 but later named the more aptly Virginian George Washington’s Rye Whiskey as its official state spirit in 2017. In North Carolina, some are rankled by milk’s official status because it isn’t as uniquely North Carolinian as, say, a glass bottle of Cheerwine, a cherry-flavored soft drink that was invented in the state. Perhaps the biggest coup, however, is the state milk hasn’t managed to wrangle: California. Despite California being the largest producer of milk in the U.S., according to Statista, California is bereft of any official state beverage. So, who is to say how much weight this title holds?
