IOWA FOOD TRIVIA and FACTS

FARMS & FARMERS
Iowa: approximate land area of 35,747,594 acres
Farmland is 30,747,550 acres or 86.0% of total land
Organic agriculture accounts for about 108,072 acres
Number of Farms: 92,856
Principle Farm Operators:
Men: 84,404 Women: 8,452
(2013 - USDA Economic Research Service: www.ers.usda.gov )
[2007-2008 latest available data]

POPULATION & HUNGER
Iowa has a total population of: 3,062,309
Urban population: 1,741,265
Rural population: 1,321,044
Food insecure households*: 12.0%
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)

Iowa was home to 18.9 million hogs and pigs as of March 1, 2010, more than 25% of the U.S. total. (US Census Bureau, 2010)

25% of all hot dogs and pork sausages consumed on the Fourth of July originated in Iowa, home to 1/4 of of all U.S. market hogs and pigs. (2008)

According to the USDA, Iowa had a total of 15.5 million market hogs and pigs as of March 1, 2007, which is 1/4 of the nation's total.

About 20% of the U.S. corn harvest is produced in Iowa.

In 1892, John Froelich of Iowa produced the first gasoline-powered tractor.

Strawberry Point, Iowa is home to the 'World's Largest Strawberry,' which sits atop city hall.

Quaker Oats, in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, is the largest cereal company in the world.

Le Mars, Iowa was designated the 'Ice Cream Capital of the World' by the Iowa General Assembly in 1994. This claim is based on the fact that the largest family owned dairy producer in the world, Wells Dairy is located there, and the dairy produces over 100 million gallons of ice cream a year - more than any other single location in the world.

The Oak tree is the official State Tree of Iowa.

Iowa's Most Popular Crop
About 90 percent of Iowa's land is dedicated to farming. In addition to producing soybeans and raising livestock, the state grows corn in great quantities. Much of its economy is based on the production of corn and corn byproducts -- popcorn, corn oil, corn syrup, cornmeal, cornstarch, and animal feed.

Corn, also known as maize, was grown in the Americas long before the European explorers arrived. It was an important source of food for many native peoples. Scientists believe that corn originated in Mexico thousands of years ago and that Native Americans cultivated it from a wild grass commonly known as teosinte. Archaeologists have found traces of corn that are 5,300 years old.
Library of Congress Local Legacies Project

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