According to the Minnesota Employment and Economic Development Department Minnesota ranked #4 in dairy sales in 2016 and #8 in dairy exports in 2017.  China and Mexico received 44 percent of those dairy products.  July is National Ice Cream Month so I thought some research about the delicious dairy product would be in order.

The District of Columbia is listed the #1 per capita ice cream consumption state by U.S. Department of Agriculture.  The problem is the District of Columbia is not a state.  The District of Columbia is our nation's capital.  Congress established the federal district from land belonging to the states of Maryland and Virginia in 1790.  Washington is a city inside the District of Columbia which is a federal district.

I also don't understand how D.C. could be on top of the state list and not on the city list per capita.

Rhode Island is #2 on the state ice cream consumption list and Wisconsin ranks #3.  The rest of the top ten looks like this; #4 Massechusetts, #5 Texas, #6 Connecticut, #7 Delaware, #8 Utah, #9 New Hampshire and #10 Kansas.

Top United State cities for consuming ice cream per capita are:

  1. Long Beach, California
  2. Dallas, Texas
  3. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
  4. Columbus, Ohio
  5. Milwaukee, Wisconsin
  6. Fort Worth, Texas
  7. Washington, D.C.
  8. Bakersfield, California
  9. Fresno, California
  10. Portland, Oregon

Minnesota ranks #7 in number of dairy cows (2016 statistics), #8 in milk goats, #6 in cheese production, #8 in milk production.

I also found some interesting facts about ice cream.  For example did you know the ideal temperature for scooping is between 6 and 10 degrees Fahrenheit?

I've provided a few others in bullet point form.

  • Chocolate syrup is the #1 most popular topping of ice cream in the world. (My favorite topping are real strawberries)
  • California is the #1 ice cream producing state.
  • 87% of Americans have ice cream in their freezer at any given time. (It's pretty rare when mine doesn't have ice cream.)
  • The top selling ice cream flavors are, vanilla (33%), chocolate (19%).
  • The ice cream cone was introduced at the World's Fair in St. Louis by a Syrian waffle maker who began rolling his pastries into horns to help an ice cream vendor who had run out of dishes.
  • The ice cream cone had actually been patented by a New York City Italian in 1903.
  • 19% of Americans say they eat ice cream in bed. (Have you? Not me)
  • 3% of Americans say they eat ice cream in the bathtub. (Have you? Not me.)
  • At one time it was against the law to serve ice cream on cherry pie in Kansas. (No wonder Dorothy and Toto left.  Oh, that's right they didn't choose to.)
  • In 1984 President Ronald Reagan designated July as National Ice Cream Month and the third Sunday of July National Ice Cream Day.
  • The Beatles had an ice cream flavor named after them by Baskin Robbins called Beatle Nut.
  • In 2008 Missouri (the state where I had my first radio job in 1980) chose the Ice Cream Cone as the Official State Dessert.

Minnesota's Official State Crop is Wild Rice and our Official State Food is the Honey Crisp Apple.

Mango Ice Cream from My Freezer. Photo by Gordy Kosfeld
Mango Ice Cream from My Freezer. Photo by Gordy Kosfeld
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