Kale – Vermont’s new state vegetable? Or another way to help local artist beat Chik-fil-A?

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What is Vermont’s allegiance to kale?

For starters, Gov. Peter Shumlin formed “Team Kale” in 2011 to help Green Mountain folk artist Bo Muller-Moore fend off a lawsuit from Atlanta-based Chick-fil-A. The fast-food chain was after Muller-Moore for popularizing the slogan “Eat More Kale” by printing it on T-shirts and stickers. The phrase hit a little too close to home for the corporation, as its trademarked slogan is “Eat Mor Chikin.”

Now, three senators want to make kale the official state vegetable of Vermont.

Earlier this week, Progressive Sens. Anthony Pollina and David Zuckerman joined Republican Bill Doyle in introducing bill S. 64, titled “An Act Relating to Designating Kale as the State Vegetable.”

Zuckerman knows a thing or two about kale, since he grows it commercially on his organic farm, Full Moon Farm in Hinesburg.