The best way to discover America is through its food. No, we're not talking about a trip to the supermarket -- we mean visiting the places where America's culinary traditions were born.

When you actually meet the people who grow or prepare the foods we enjoy, and gain an understanding of the lives they lead, then a potato is not just a potato -- it's also a community of people who brought it to you. And these communities often celebrate their agricultural heritages in homespun festivals that reflect America's true heartland, whether it's in Rockland, Maine or Kona, Hawaii.

Here's just a partial survey of America's cornucopia of food festivals that deliver real local color -- and flavor, too.