Good Food USA - FOOD FACTS

Food Facts & Trivia

Enjoy a wide selection of American food facts and trivia.

One in every four trees in the state of Vermont is a maple tree.

California is the largest grower of almonds in the whole world.

Wine is produced in all fifty states of America, including Alaska.

The peanut is the state crop of Georgia.

8% of all potatoes grown in the U.S.A. are used for potato chips.

The state of Maine is the largest grower of wild blueberries in the U.S.A.

The state of Hawaii is the only state in the U.S.A. which grows coffee beans.

72% of Americans say that the strawberry is their favorite berry.

Gilroy, California is known as the garlic capital of the world.

Apple pie is the favorite dessert of the United States.

The potato is the fourth most important crop in the world, behind rice, wheat & corn.

82% of Americans own a barbeque grill.

Washington State produces more apples than any other state in the U.S.A.

The state game bird of Alabama is the turkey. Alabama has the largest per acre population of wild turkeys than any other state.

Most of America's catch of salmon, crab, halibut & herring come from Alaska.

The average American eats over 20 pounds of fresh apples each year.

Alma, Arkansas is known as the spinach capital of the world.

Castroville, California is known as the artichoke capital of the world. It is where Norma Jean (Marilyn Monroe) was crowned Artichoke Queen in 1947.

The state of Utah is known as the beehive state.

Native Americans flavored their baked beans with maple syrup & bear fat & baked them in earthenware pots placed in a pit covered with hot rocks.

Olive trees may live to be 1,200 years old. The average life span is 500 years.

Almost 90% of Florida's orange crop is used to produce orange juice.

Fresh fruit is the favorite snack of most American adults. Cookies are the favorite of most kids.

The apple is the official state fruit of Rhode Island & West Virginia.

Watermelon have been around since prehistoric times. The first watermelon grown in the New World was in Massachusetts in 1629.

The blueberry muffin is the official state muffin of Minnesota.

Chili is the official state dish of Texas.

Almost 90% of the United States lobster supply is caught off the coast of Maine.

Over half of the world's supply of raisins is grown in California.

Fresno, California is the raisin capital of the world.

Over 25% of Baskin Robbins "31 Flavors" ice cream sales are from plain vanilla.

Quaker Oats, of Cedar Rapids, Iowa is the largest cereal company in the world.

Vermont produces more maple syrup than any other state in the U.S.

More land is farmed in Texas than in any other state.

Approximately 8% of Californians are vegetarians.

Did you know it takes 50 gallons of maple sap to make one gallon of maple syrup.

In the U.S. almost all of the catfish, crawfish & rainbow trout sold commercially are farmed raised.

North Carolina is the largest grower of sweet potatoes (almost 600 million pounds per year) in the United States.

California grows 97% of all the apricots grown in the U.S.A.

American children drink an average of 28 gallons of milk per year.

Charlie the Tuna, the official representative of Starkist Tuna, made his first appearance in a TV commercial for StarKist in 1961.

The ham sandwich is America's favorite sandwich, with turkey in second and tuna fish in third.

Over 15 billion jelly beans are sold during the Easter season.

The official state pie of Vermont is the apple pie.

The Vidalia onion is the official state vegetable of Georgia.

Nebraska is the "Cornhusker State".

Americans eat almost 12 pounds of chocolate per person per year.

California grows over 300,000 tons of grapes each year & produces over 18 million gallons of wine each year.

According to Kraft Foods, more than a million packages of Jell-O brand gelatin are purchased each day.

In Hawaii, the pineapple is a sign of hospitality.

America's three most popular fish are in order, tuna, salmon & swordfish.

The average American eats approximately 22 pounds of tomatoes each year.

Over 1/2 of the tomato consumption in the U.S.A is in the form of catsup, tomato sauce & hot sauce.

McDonald's, annually hires one million people, more than any other American organization, public or private.

U.S. Organic food sales have grown between 17 & 22% each year since 1997, to nearly triple in sales, while total food sales in the United States over this time period have grown in the range of only 2 to 4% a year.

1/3 of potatoes grown in the United States end up as French fries.

Americans spent over $120 billion dollars on fast food in 2005.

5% of Americans eat at McDonald's each day.

Fallbrook, California is known as the avocado capital of the world.

Pizza is America's favorite take-out food, with Chinese food coming in a close second and the hamburger third.

America's four favorite Ethnic cuisines are in order, Chinese, Italian, Mexican & Greek.

The state of Michigan is the largest grower of cultivated blueberries in the U.S.A.

Americans eat an average of 13 pounds of French fries each year.

The state of New Jersey has more diners than any other state & is sometimes called the diner capital of the world.

The Honeybee helps produce 1/3 of the world's food supply through Pollination.

Only about 9% of the worlds oat crop is consumed as food by humans. The majority of the crop is fed to animals.

The American buffalo, or bison is the state animal of Oklahoma.

Sumner, Kansas is known as the wheat capital of the world.

Lou Gehrig was the first athlete to appear on the box of Wheaties cereal. Walter Payton was the first football player to appear on the box.

Most wild game (even farm raised) has a fat content of under 10%. Beef can have as much as 33% fat.

California is the largest grower of organic foods in the United States.

Over 90% of Iowa's land is dedicated to farming.

Thomas Jefferson had 19 varieties of lettuce growing in his garden at Monticello.

Nabisco produced 16 billion Oreo cookies in 1995 in its factory in Chicago, Ill.

R. Blechyden served tea with ice at the St. Louis World Fair in 1904 & invented iced tea.

Hatch, New Mexico is known as the green chile capital of the world.

The state of Florida has over 100 million citrus trees under cultivation.

Breaux Bridge, Louisiana is the crawfish capital of the world.

The first pizza ever made in America, was made in a Bronx, NY eatery in 1905.

The largest brown trout weighed over 40 pounds & was caught in Arkansas on May 9, 1992.

In 1954 C.A. Swanson & Sons introduced the first TV dinner, it was roast turkey with stuffing & gravy, sweet potatoes & peas. It sold for 98 cents.

There are over 800,000 restaurants in the United States (2004).

The oldest restaurant in Boston, MA. is "The Union Oyster House".

Americans eat 25% of their meals away from home each year.

Tomato juice is the official state beverage of Ohio.

Belzoni, Mississippi is known as the catfish capital of the world.

The four most valuable fruit crops in America (2004) are in order, grapes, apples, oranges & strawberries.

The official state fruit of Texas is the red grapefruit.

Tootsie Rolls were the first wrapped penny candy in America.

The state beverage of Massachusetts is cranberry juice.

The chocolate chip cookie was invented in Massachusetts in 1930.

The United States is one of the largest grower of almonds, apples,
avocados, barley, beans, bell peppers, berries, broccoli, cabbage,
celery, corn, garlic, grapefruit, grapes, lettuce, onions, oranges,
peaches, pecans, pineapples, potatoes, soy beans, spinach, squash, walnuts, watermelon & wheat in the whole world.