Weighing in With a Menu of Culinary Delights Part 2

1.1 billion pounds
Total production of major pumpkin-producing states in 2005. Illinois led the country by producing 497 million pounds of the vined orange gourd. Pumpkin patches in California, Ohio and Pennsylvania also provided lots of pumpkins: each state produced at least 100 million pounds. The value of all the pumpkins produced by major pumpkin-producing states was $106 million. <http://www.nass.usda.gov/>

If you prefer cherry pie, you will be pleased to learn that the nation’s forecasted tart cherry production for 2006 totals 256 million pounds. Of this total, the overwhelming majority (185 million) will be produced in Michigan. <http://www.nass.usda.gov/>)

1.8 billion bushels
The total volume of wheat — the essential ingredient of bread, rolls and pie crust — produced in the United States in 2006. Kansas and North Dakota — combined — accounted for 30 percent of the nation’s wheat production. (Source: USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service at <http://www.nass.usda.gov/>)

768,000 tons
The 2006 contracted production of snap (green) beans for processing. Of this total, Wisconsin led all states (305,000 tons). Many Americans consider green bean casserole a traditional Thanksgiving dish. (Source: USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service at <http://www.nass.usda.gov/>)