See also: Connecticut Food Festivals

CONNECTICUT TRIVIA & FACTS

FARMS & FARMERS
Connecticut: approximate land area: 3,100,721 acres
Farmland is 405,616 acres or 13.1% of total land
Organic agriculture accounts for about 437 acres
Number of Farms: 4,916
Principle Farm Operators: Men: 3,755 Women: 1,161
(2013 - USDA Economic Research Service: www.ers.usda.gov )
[2007-2008 latest available data]

POPULATION & HUNGER
Connecticut has a total population of: 3,580,709
Urban population: 3,273,769
Rural population: 306,940
Food insecure households*: 11.9%
Households with very low food security*: 4.7%
*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)

The American Shad (Alosa sapidissima) was named as Connecticut's Official State Fish in 2003.

The Eastern Oyster (Crassostrea virginica) was adopted as the Connecticut's Official State Shellfish in 1989.

In 1940 there were 6,200 dairies in Connecticut. In 2009 there are 149.

Lollipops were first made in New Haven, Connecticut in 1908 by George Smith. They were named after a race horse of the time, Lolly Pop.

Pumpkin halves were used as guides for haircuts in colonial New Haven, Connecticut, giving rise to the nickname 'pumpkinhead.'

The only steam-powered Cider Mill in the U.S. is located in Mystic, Connecticut.

PEZ^® Candy is made in Orange, Connecticut.

The first 'cattle' to be branded in the U.S. began when farmers in Connecticut were required to mark their pigs.

Supposedly, the first hamburgers in U.S. history were served in New Haven, Connecticut, at Louis' Lunch sandwich shop in 1895. Louis Lassen, founder of Louis' Lunch, ran a small lunch wagon selling steak sandwiches to local factory workers. Because he didn't like to waste the excess beef from his daily lunch rush, he ground it up, grilled it, and served it between two slices of bread -- and America's first hamburger was created.

The small Crown Street luncheonette is still owned and operated by third and fourth generations of the Lassen family. Hamburgers are still the specialty of the house, where steak is ground fresh each day and hand molded, slow cooked, broiled vertically, and served between two slices of toast with your choice of only three 'acceptable' garnishes: cheese, tomato, and onion.

Want ketchup or mustard? Forget it. You will be told 'no' in no uncertain terms. This is the home of the greatest hamburger in the world, claim the owners, who are perhaps best known for allowing their customers to have a burger the Lassen way or not at all.
Library of Congress Local Legacies Project

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