Multimedia Gallery

Salad Days

May 26, 2013

You may Listen or download this story in .mp3 format or as a .wav file.

Profile America -- Sunday, May 26th. This Memorial Day weekend will have seen many backyard parties among friends and neighbors. In addition to grilled chicken, hamburgers and hot dogs, there will be baked beans and potato chips, often joined by a salad. Most grocery stores now carry a wide variety of greens, where some years ago, the standard all across America was iceberg lettuce. In fact, this is National Salad Month. It's also National Vinegar Month, a key ingredient in many salad dressings. Americans eat an average of 17 pounds of lettuce, six pounds of celery, and 2½ pounds of mushrooms each year. To flavor the salads, nearly 15,000 Americans work in the mayonnaise, dressing and prepared sauce industry. You can find more facts about America from the U.S. Census Bureau, online at <www.census.gov>.

Sources: 2007 Economic Census, NAICS 31194
http://www.census.gov/econ/industry/hierarchy/i31194.htm
Statistical Abstract of the United States 2012, t. 218
http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/cats/health_nutrition.html