California food facts are incredibly interesting.
Most people think of the Golden State as a tourist
destination where you can visit Hollywood film
locations, see celebrities and go to beaches. In
additional to California ranking as the top
destination in the United States, it also ranks as
the top food production state for a number of crops.
Though
tourists hardly consider the agricultural
significance of California as a food growing region,
the temperate year-round climate and expanses of
land provide foods the nation and world have grown
to enjoy and count on. Below are some of the top
crops and percentage of the nation's supply produced
in California.
Food Facts
California has
been the number one food and agricultural
producer in the United States for more than 50
consecutive years.
More than half
the nation's fruit, nuts, and vegetables come
from here.
California is the
nation's number one dairy state.
California's
leading commodity is milk and cream. Grapes are
second.
California's
leading export crop is almonds.
Nationally,
products exclusively grown (99% or more)
in California include almonds, artichokes,
dates, figs, kiwifruit, olives, persimmons,
pistachios, prunes, raisins, clovers, and
walnuts.
From 70 to 80% of all ripe olives are grown in
California.
California is
the nation's leading producer of strawberries,
averaging 1.4 billion pounds of strawberries or
83% of the country's total fresh and frozen
strawberry production. Approximately 12% of the
crop is exported to Canada, Mexico, United
Kingdom, Hong Kong and Japan primarily. The
value of the California strawberry crop is
approximately $700 million with related
employment of more than 48,000 people.
California
produces 25% of the nation's onions and
43% of the nation's green onions.
Gilroy,
California, "Garlic Capitol of the World,"
has hosted 2 million at
the annual Gilroy Garlic Festival.
California Crops
California
Agricultural Commodities: Items below produced or grown in California rank
#1 in the US. California % of US production is
shown, along with the harvest season of crops that
are grown year-round.
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