Food of the Summer

Ah summertime. A time for good-old-fashioned summer food and summertime fun. Now, the focus of this graphic is on summer food in the United States, but it could just have easily been about summer food and summer fun, as you can’t have one without the other. Well, at least not where I come from. Let’s dive a bit into some of the facts presented in the infographic now, which as a food fan, I found rather interesting.

According to the graphic, the most popular days for grilling are Labor Day, Memorial Day, and the 4rth of July. Going deep into the numbers:
–A whopping 82% of U.S. household own a grill or smoker
–45% of grill owners use their grill at least 1-2 times per week during peak summer months. None like to waste their investment. “If you have a grill, use it.” That seems to be the mantra
–167,700,000 of grills were shipped in 2009, up from the amount shipped the previous year, which means Americans are getting “grillier.”

There were some things I was surprised by. Apparently, when a person is in a group, he eats more than he does when he is alone. Meals eaten with other people were 33% larger than meals eaten alone. If you want to know why so many Americans are overweight, look no further than that stat, or look at the fact that over 14 MLB baseball stadiums have all-you-can eat items. Speaking of the Major Leagues, according to the graphic, Major League Eating (MLE) champions are eating more these days. Since its inception in 1916, the number of hotogs eaten at the Nathan’s Famous Hotdog Eating contest has been increasing every year. Our appetites, for whatever reason, are getting bigger. People also love to eat at fairs according to the graphic, and record crowds are showing up to buy food at the events, even in a down economy.

Let there be no argument then. Americans are eating more, and will probably continue to eat more with every passing year.