Don’t Look for Many Senior Citizens to Fire Up the
Grill on July 4
Some interesting facts about the U.S. on Independence
Day 2008
July 1, 2008 - No matter what the subject, when it
comes to polling Americans, senior citizens always stand out as being
different from younger people.
July is National Grilling Month and as a new Harris
Poll of 2,454 U.S. adults surveyed online between June 9 and 16, 2008 by
Harris Interactive shows, Americans like to grill and they do it all
year round. Specifically:
● Half of Americans (50%) say they grill at
least a few times a month with one-quarter (23%) barbequing at least
once a week. Just one in six (14%) say they never grill or barbeque
outdoors;
● Over half (57%) of grillers do so in the
summer, two in five (40%) grill in the Spring and one-third (33%) grill
in the Fall.
● Two in five (39%) grillers say season doesn’t
matter and they grill all year long.
But, when Harris looked at the responses by age
group, they found the group it calls the "Matures," which are people age
63 and over, just are not as interested in grilling as younger people.
See the response below.
Frequency Of Grilling
"On average throughout the year, how often
would you say you barbeque or use a grill to cook outdoors?"
On this day in 1776, the Declaration of Independence was approved by the
Continental Congress, setting the 13 colonies on the road to freedom as
a sovereign nation. As always, this most American of holidays will be
marked by parades, fireworks and backyard barbecues across the country.
Here are some interesting facts from the U.S. Census Bureau.
2.5 million
In July 1776, the estimated number of people living in the newly
independent nation.
Source:
Historical Statistics of the United States: Colonial Times to 1970
<http://www.census.gov/prod/www/abs/statab.html>
More than 1 in 4
The chance that the hot dogs and pork sausages consumed on the Fourth of
July originated in Iowa. The Hawkeye State was home to 17.6 million
market hogs and pigs on March 1, 2008. This represents more than
one-fourth of the nation’s total. North Carolina (9 million) and
Minnesota (6.7 million) were the runners-up.
Source: USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service <http://www.nass.usda.gov>
6.8 billion pounds
Total production of cattle and calves in Texas in 2007. Chances are good
that the beef hot dogs, steaks and burgers on your backyard grill came
from the Lone Star State, which accounted for about one-sixth of the
nation’s total production. And if the beef did not come from Texas, it
very well may have come from Nebraska (4.7 billion pounds) or Kansas
(4.1 billion pounds).
Source: USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service <http://www.nass.usda.gov>
6
Number of states in which the revenue from broiler chickens was $1
billion or greater between December 2006 and November 2007. There is a
good chance that one of these states — Georgia, Arkansas, North
Carolina, Alabama, Mississippi or Texas — is the source of your
barbecued chicken.
Source: USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service <http://www.nass.usda.gov>
About 4 in 10
The odds that your side dish of baked beans originated from North
Dakota, which produced 42 percent of the nation’s dry, edible beans in
2007. Another popular Fourth of July side dish is corn on the cob.
Florida, California, Georgia and New York together accounted for 60
percent of the sweet corn produced nationally in 2007.
Source: USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service <http://www.nass.usda.gov>
Please Pass the Potato
Salad
Potato salad and potato chips are popular food items at Fourth of July
barbecues. More than half (52 percent) of the nation’s spuds were
produced in Idaho or Washington state in 2007.
Source: USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service <http://www.nass.usda.gov>
More than three-fourths
Amount of the nation’s head lettuce production in 2007 that came from
California. This lettuce may end up in your salad or on your burger.
Source: USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service <http://www.nass.usda.gov>
Nearly 3 in 4 The chances that the fresh tomatoes in your salad came
from Florida or California, which combined accounted for 73 percent of
U.S. tomato production last year. The ketchup on your burger or hot dog
probably came from California, which accounted for 96 percent of
processed tomato production in 2007.
Source: USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service <http://www.nass.usda.gov>
Georgia
The state that led the nation in watermelon production last year (1
billion pounds). Other leading producers of this popular Fourth of July
dessert included California, Florida and Texas, each with more than 400
million pounds.
Source: USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service <http://www.nass.usda.gov>
More than 74 million
Number of Americans who said they have taken part in a barbecue during
the previous year. It’s probably safe to assume a lot of these events
took place on Independence Day.
Source: Statistical Abstract of the United States: 2008, Table 1213 <http://www.census.gov/prod/www/statistical-abstract.html>
Fireworks
$207 million
The value of fireworks imported from China in 2007, representing the
bulk of all U.S. fireworks imported ($217 million). U.S. exports of
fireworks, by comparison, came to just $14.9 million in 2007, with Japan
purchasing more than any other country ($3.8 million).
Source: Foreign Trade Statistics <http://www.census.gov/foreign-trade/www/>
$4.7 million
In 2007, the dollar value of U.S. imports of American flags. The vast
majority of this amount ($4.3 million) was for U.S. flags made in China.
Source: Foreign Trade Statistics <http://www.census.gov/foreign-trade/www/>
$2.4 million
Dollar value of U.S. flags exported in 2007. Mexico was the leading
customer, purchasing $1.2 million worth.
Source: Foreign Trade Statistics <http://www.census.gov/foreign-trade/www/>
$349.2 million
Annual dollar value of shipments of fabricated flags, banners and
similar emblems by the nation’s manufacturers, according to the latest
published economic census data.
Source: 2002 Economic Census <http://www.census.gov/prod/ec02/ec0231i314999t.pdf>
Patriotic-Sounding Names
31
Number of places nationwide with “liberty” in their name. The most
populous one as of July 1, 2006, is Liberty, Mo. (29,581). Iowa, with
four, has more of these places than any other state: Libertyville, New
Liberty, North Liberty and West Liberty.
● Thirty-one places are named “eagle” — after
the majestic bird that serves as our national symbol. (Places include
cities, towns, villages and census-designated places.) The most populous
such place is Eagle Pass, Texas, with 26,401 residents.
● Twelve places have “independence” in their
name. The most populous of these is Independence, Mo., with 109,400
residents.
● Nine places adopted the name “freedom.”
Freedom, Calif., with 6,000 residents, has the largest population among
these.
● There is one place named “patriot” — Patriot,
Ind., with a population of 192.
● And what could be more fitting than spending
the Fourth of July in a place called “America”? There are five such
places in the country, with the most populous being American Fork, Utah,
population 25,596.
