Dropping a Knowledge Bomb

Today's KB is all about Onions!

The onion is believed to have originated in Asia, though it is likely that onions may have been growing wild on every continent. Dating back to 3500 BC, onions were one of the few foods that did not spoil during the winter months. Our ancestors must have recognized the vegetable's durability and began growing onions for food.

The onion became more than just food after arriving in Egypt. The ancient Egyptians worshipped the onion, believing that its spherical shape and concentric rings symbolized eternity. Of all the vegetables that had their images created from precious metals by Egyptian artists, only the onion was made out of gold.

According to an old English Rhyme, the thickness of an onion skin can help predict the severity of the winter. Thin skins mean a mild winter is coming while thick skins indicate a rough winter ahead.

Pace Foods (picante sauce & salsas) uses about 21 million pounds of fresh onions every year.

If you eat onions you can get rid of onion breath by eating parsley.

Americans eat 18.8 pounds of fresh and storage type onions on average each year.

During the American Civil War, General Ulysses S. Grant sent a telegram to the War Department, "I will not move my army without onions." The next day he got them.

Yellow onions make up more than 75% of the worlds production of onions.

The U.S. produces well over 2 million metric tons of onions annually.

According to the Guinness Book of World Records, the largest onion ever grown weighed 10 lbs 14 oz and was grown by V. Throup of Silsden, England.

Onions represent the third largest fresh vegetable industry in the United States. The U.S. per capita consumption of onions is around 18.7 pounds per year. This translates to approximately 370 semi-truck loads of onions used in the United States each day.

World onion production is estimated at approximately 105 billion pounds each year. The average annual onion consumption calculates to approximately 13.67 pounds of onions per person across the world. Libya has the highest consumption of onions with an astounding average per capita consumption of 66.8 pounds.

The official state vegetable of Georgia is the Vidalia onion.

The official state vegetable of Texas is the Texas Sweet onion.

According to the National Onion Association, onion consumption in the U.S. has increased approximately 50% over the past 20 years.