The expansive land of North America and its variety of climates offered plentiful and varied foodstuffs naturally. This was complemented by an immigrant population bringing agricultural knowledge from their places of origin that greatly enriched areas of America that had mostly been occupied by hunter/gatherers. In Delaware, this transition into productive, life-sustaining agriculture began in its earliest settlements of the 17th century and has continued to its present-day reputation as the little agricultural engine that helps feed the nation and world.

In particular, Delaware’s Sussex County and lower Kent County have used their fertile land and varied transportation conduits to grow and move crops, produce and poultry for more than 200 years. Through innovation and dynamic technological advances in every related field, from preservation to transportation to marketing, Delaware has been a leader in greatly reducing world hunger.

From ships to railroads to a state-of-the-art intrastate highway, Delaware has been a key cog in the delivery of food products locally, regionally, nationally and internationally.

Delaware’s abundance of white oak fueled its shipbuilding industry, which began in Milford in 1782. The ships and barges built there were used to transport Delaware’s No. 1 cash crop, peaches, and other crops to northern markets. Delaware was the original Peach State. The main hindrance to an expanded market base, however, was the lack of an improved internal road system in lower Delaware that inhibited farmers from getting their crops to available ports. It wasn’t until the 1860s, when the Delaware Railroad was built, that produce from previously landlocked areas of the state became accessible to rail transport. This increased profits and expanded the marketability of a wider variety of products including canned goods that were being sent nationwide without spoilage.

While the railroad was an immense aid to farmers and consumers alike, the lack of a statewide road system still inhibited lower Delaware farmers from moving their produce from the rural, often water-logged back roads to the rail transport centers.

Up stepped two forward-thinking, very wealthy state residents: John G. Townsend, “the Strawberry King of Delaware,” and T. Coleman du Pont, the early 20th century scion of the du Pont family dynasty. Together, they envisioned a state-of-the art advancement in transportation that would and did lower costs, and improve access and speed of delivery for Delaware’s farm products. Their innovation was the intrastate north-south DuPont Highway, built at DuPont’s expense and completed in the early 1920s. No longer dependent solely on the railroads and their high fees, farmers throughout the state now had unfettered, free access to local and regional markets.

Also at this time in the early decades of the 20th century, an accidental visionary stepped forward in Delaware’s agricultural history to literally transform the eating habits of the nation. In 1923, Ocean View farm wife Cecile Steele had the vision to turn a mistaken delivery of 500 chicks instead of the 50 chicks she had ordered into what has become a multibillion-dollar international business. Instead of returning the excess delivery, Steele raised the chicks and marketed the chicken for profit, thus starting the poultry industry in which Delaware is the world’s leader.

Food on the American table may not define the nation, but the traditions surrounding foods and how the U.S. became such a bountiful nation that feeds the world speak volumes about its people. As it is nationally, so it is in Delaware, where the smallest state provides for an inordinate amount of the world’s nutritional needs.

MoMS, a program of the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service (SITES), works with state humanities councils to share cultural resources and helps develop capacity around small exhibitions in rural communities across America. SITES connects Americans to their shared cultural heritage through a wide range of exhibitions about art, science and history, which are shown wherever people live, work and play. For more information, visit museumonmainstreet.org and sites.si.edu.