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See also: Maryland Food Festivals ; Maryland Chicken
MARYLAND TRIVIA & FACTS
FARMS & FARMERS
Maryland approximate land area: 6,251,090 acres.
Farmland is 2,051,756 acres or 32.8% of total land
Organic agriculture accounts for about 7,625 acres
Number of Farms: 12,834
Principle Farm Operators:
Men: 10,618 Women: 2,216
(2013 - USDA Economic Research Service: www.ers.usda.gov )
[2007-2008 latest available data]
POPULATION & HUNGER
Maryland has a total population of: 5,828,289
Urban population: 5,515,386
Rural population: 312,903
Food insecure households*: 12.5%
Households with very low food security*: 5.3%
*Food insecurity - Limited or uncertain availability of nutritionally adequate and safe foods or limited or uncertain ability to acquire acceptable foods in socially acceptable ways.
Very low food security - At times during the year, eating patterns of one or more household members were disrupted and food intake reduced because the household lacked money and other resources for food.
(2013 - USDA Economic Research Service: www.ers.usda.gov )
(Population & Food Security data: 2011)
Maryland's official State Dessert is the Smith Island Cake, designated in 2008. Made by the ladies of Smith Island for years, the cake is 'impossibly thin layers (8-12) of cake and icing stacked high.'
One of Maryland's nicknames is 'Free State' (Coined during Prohibition by a Baltimore Sun editor who argued against prohibiting the sale of liquor) .
Similar to 'Haggis,' Maryland Stuffed Hog Maw is the lining of a pig's stomach stuffed with sausage, bread crumbs, potatoes and onions, sewn closed, and then simmered and baked.
The city of Crisfield, Maryland is built on a foundation of oyster shells.
Boordy Vineyards opened in 1945, the first of more than 20 bonded wineries now operating in Maryland.
On May 23, 1774, Chestertown, Maryland residents reacted to news of the Boston Tea Party by staging a similar protest, dumping a shipment of tea into the Chester River.
In 1989 Maryland designated the Blue Crab (Callinectes sapidus Rathbun) as the official State Crustacean.
In 1998 Milk was designated as the official State Drink.
In 1965 the Striped Bass or Rockfish (Morone saxatilis) was designated the official State Fish.
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