According to a proclamation (Proclamation 5219, to be exact) that dear old Ronald Reagan made in 1984, today is National Ice Cream Day, so if you are a patriot, you will go out and eat yourself a big helping of the cold stuff. In his official 1984 proclamation, Reagan declared:
Ice cream is a nutritious and wholesome food, enjoyed by over ninety percent of the people in the United States. It enjoys a reputation as the perfect dessert and snack food. Over eight hundred and eighty-seven million gallons of ice cream were consumed in the United States in 1983.The ice cream industry generates approximately $3.5 billion in annual sales and provides jobs for thousands of citizens. Indeed, nearly ten percent of all the milk produced by the United States dairy farmers is used to produce ice cream, thereby contributing substantially to the economic well-being of the Nation’s dairy industry.
So true. Other important facts about ice cream: more ice cream is sold on Sunday than any other day of the week. The most popular flavor of ice cream in the U.S is vanilla (27.8%), followed by chocolate (14.3%), strawberry (3.3%), chocolate chip (3.3%) and butter pecan (2.8%). The most ice cream (per person) is eaten by children aged 2-12 and adults 45+. The average number of licks to consume a single scoop cone is about 50. It is delicious.
[via Gothamist]