Who were the first to make whoopi pies? Are they from Maine or Lancaster, Pennsylvania? Aye, that is the question, as the two states are embroiled in a tasty, good-natured conflict over who introduced these rich, dense and delicious small chocolate cakes with a creamy vanilla filling.

One Maine legislator, Paul Davis to be specific, initiated a bill last January, which made the whoopi pie Maine’s official dessert. Later the name was changed to Maine’s official treat. He was inspired to do this after attending the Maine Whoopi Pie Festival, which brought some 4,000 visitors to his district last year alone.

Congressional districts aside, residents in Lancaster, Pa don’t care what the people in Maine call the whoopi pie because they claim that these chocolate delights also known as “gobs,” originated in Amish kitchens and date back many generations.

The issue has prompted “whoopi pie rallies” with purists in Lancaster, PA, holding signs that they alone have the original and all others are imposters committing “confectionary larceny.” Attended by 100 angry people last February, one person carried a sign bearing the words: Give Me Whoopi or Give Me Death. The Labadie’s Bakery in Lewiston, Maine, insists they started making whoopi pies back in 1925.

Whoever is right or wrong may never be ascertained. The creator of the whoopi pie may remain one of those confectionary mysteries that people will just have to live with. Although the competition is light-hearted, with so much going on in this dynamic world of ours that merits our attention and concern, how should we prioritize this miscarriage of culinary justice?

Maybe what everyone needs instead is a whoopi cushion, or perhaps the brilliant commentary of a funny lady who bears the name, Whoopi Goldberg?