[edm0nd]

Is anyone really getting into trouble growing Vidalia onions not in Georgia?

Like if I plant some in my yard and start selling them online or at the local farmers market, what is anyone really going to do?

Seems kinda weird they have a government granted monopoly on them.

[eightturn]

If you grow them in the Vidalia region (20 counties around Vidalia, GA), you're aok... but if you grow them outside of that area, and call them a Vidalia, you'll get into hot water. The law mainly came into existence cause Texas farmers began growing regular yellow onions and slapping the 'Vidalia' name on it, and customers would get pissed. So all the Vidalia farmers got together and got a Federal law passed that says you can only call an onion a 'Vidalia' if it's grown in our special region down here where we have sandy, loamy soil that contributes to the mild, sweet taste.

[LadyCailin]

It’s only Vidalia if it’s grown in the Vidalia region of France, otherwise it’s just sparkling onion.

[forty]

Yeah thanksfully in Europe we have AOP / AOC (protected name of origin) so that names can have a meaning. Good that Vidalia farmers seem to have managed to do the same somehow.

Regarding Champagne, the funniest part is that Russia granted exclusivity of the name to some local sparkling wine, such that actual wines from the Champagne aera need to use some alternative names there ^^

[steveklabnik]

It's a brand name, like any other. Usage of it requires fulfilling the brand requirements. It's like how you can't say a burger from Burger King if it's actually from McDonalds, even if it's a very similar hamburger.

But even then, this isn't uncommon for food and beverages. You can't call it "whisky" unless you follow certain requirements about the mash bill, barrel, etc.

(My dad, before his death, had started growing "Pennsylvania Simply Sweet" onions. Because you can't call them Vidalia.)

[criddell]

It’s more than a brand name (civil matter), it’s a federally protected designation (criminal matter):

https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-7/subtitle-B/chapter-IX/p...

[steveklabnik]

I didn’t know this until this thread! Thanks for the citation.

[pverheggen]

It's similar to French wines and cheese. News to me that we have this in the US but it totally makes sense. We have a few of these in the PNW, like Hermiston melons and Walla Walla onions.

[forty]

It's a broader EU thing (named AOP - protected designation of origin) rather than French only, though you are right that France has plenty of those for wines and cheese. But it's also protecting Greek Feta, Italian Parma ham, Scottish Shetland Wool, etc

[mschuster91]

Nürnberger Rostbratwürstchen and Munich Beer come to my mind from Germany!

[Aurornis]

There are a lot of food and drink items with official legal definitions that include the region of origin. The most famous one is champagne, which can only be called champagne if it comes from a specific region.

You can think of the name as being inclusive of the region, not simply descriptive of the variety. So if someone made a sparkling wine in a different region and sold it as champagne then they would be committing fraud.

> Like if I plant some in my yard and start selling them online or at the local farmers market, what is anyone really going to do?

At your farmer’s market? Probably nothing. But if you came across a particularly grumpy person with time and money to burn on lawyers they would have a case against you. Not actually going to happen at that scale. But if you owned vidaliaonions.com and started selling fraudulent vidalia onions at scale, the farmers would likely get together and pursue legal action to protect their prices.

It’s almost like a brand. You can sell LEGO-style bricks but you can’t call them LEGO because they didn’t come from the LEGO company.

[throwup238]

> You can think of the name as being inclusive of the region, not simply descriptive of the variety.

The term of art is terroir [1], which is the "character" of the environment the plants are grown in. It's often that a region will have some special characteristic due to geology that allows a unique flavor profile to grow so these trade names are the equivalent of a terroir brand.

Some designations are more strict than others, though. IIRC in the case of Vidalia onions the soil is low in sulfur so the biochemical pathways in onions that produce astringent compounds are nutrient starved. As far as I know most sweet onion varieties nowadays are grown in similar soil, but they're not legally allowed to call them Vidalias.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terroir

[dddgghhbbfblk]

The geology-centered conception of terroir in wine that you're giving is actually rather controversial and not generally supported by any science we've done to date.

For wine, "terroir" rather encompasses things like climate, local customs and practices (viticulture and vinification), and sometimes things like local strains of grapes or of yeast.