In 2014 Slow Food USA named this fig to their International Ark of Taste. The fig grows on Hog Island VA, which is an abandoned barrier island off of Virginia’s Eastern Shore. The fig has a long history on the island including being served to President-elect Grover Cleveland in 1892 during a hunting trip. The area was originally populated in the 1700’s and the Hog Island Fig is included in a photograph dating as far back as 1892. Hog Island was abandoned starting in the 1930s following two bad hurricanes that significantly reduced the size of the island. Since the 1940s the figs have continued to grow on the island unprotected. Today the fig stands in salt grass in an area frequently over washed by winter storms. Needless to say the fig is very salt tolerant and has survived at least 80 winters unprotected in zones 7/8. The National Weather Service maintains a weather station only 12 miles away and going back to 1955 when records started it has recorded minimum temperatures down to -5 F, with 7 winters at or below 0 F and 31 years below 10 F.

After Slow Food USA added the Hog Island Fig to the International Ark of Taste Hermitage Farms Nursery, a wholesale-only operation on the Eastern Shore, began propagating cuttings and selling the fig locally. 

The fig is a large golden colored fig described by Slow Food USA as being notable for the rich complexity of its flavor profile. According to descriptions, when fully ripe, the fig has an intense floral favor that yields to an earthy sweetness. The fig is great for fresh eating and has been historically used on the Eastern Shore to make fig preserves and jam.