Unraveling Tiverton’s Green Bean Casserole Search Obsession

The SouthCoast is undeniably a food-focused area but when it came to November, we had the most interest in green bean casserole.

In fact, "green bean casserole" was the fourth-highest search query in Google for the Providence-New Bedford region this past month.

You may be wondering if this is a factual statement or if it is simply a "slow news day" (haha, but also yes because I'm not a news reporter), yet it's true; anyone can look at Google Search Trends from our area at any time and see what people are snooping around for.

In this case, along with the No. 1 most searched term, the "History of Thanksgiving," "green bean casserole" was the fourth-most searched for topic on the interwebs by the good people of Southeastern Massachusetts and Rhode Island.

However, one town really needed to know.

Tiverton folks: out of roughly 1.4 million people in the Providence-New Bedford DMA, you had the highest volume of searches for "green bean casserole."

Why? Was there a healthy debate in your home about whether or not green bean casserole tastes better with the French-fried onion toppings? Were you trying to prove to someone that green bean casserole is a straight-up American delicacy and should be served in only the finest of glassware? Yes, Corningware specifically.

Were you curious about the origin story of this American classic? Did you marvel at the fact that it was invented by the Campbell's Soup company in a marketing effort to sell more cream of mushroom soup? Were you shocked to learn it wasn't actually stitched by Betsy Ross herself into the fabric of the very first American flag? SAME.

Even Campbell's will tell you their green bean casserole recipe is viewed millions of times just on Thanksgiving Day alone. It has an actual place in the Inventors Hall of Fame.

Back to the good people out there not using their family's traditional recipe and using the internet instead: did you find the casserole twist you were looking for? Did you deviate and add nutmeg to the top or substitute fried onion for fried jalapenos? Did you add bacon like a true American?

Most importantly – and Google will spill the green beans on the topic – will you look up this recipe again for Christmas?