'Tis the season for staring--with uncomprehension and, sometimes, fury--at electoral maps while TV reporters flip whole states from red to blue and back again, seemingly at random. While the polls and pundits make wild declarations about The Way People Are across these 50 states, we thought we'd investigate the numbers that most interest us: those relating to food. Who eats what, and where? Where is obesity highest and lowest, and does it correspond with fast food joints or political leanings? Who's the drunkest? Who buys the most Spam? Who really eats the most arugula? The answers to these burning queries (in Republican-voting red and Democratic blue, based on the 2008 election), below.
--Alex Van Buren
(Source: Washington Post)
Utah, Mississippi, Maryland, Alabama, and Arizona have the fewest fast food places per capita--less than one outlet for every two residents in Utah's case.
(Source: Business Insider)
The lowest obesity rates are in Colorado (20.7 percent), Hawaii, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Washington, D.C., and California.
(Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
(Source: Gallup)
(Source: Department of Health & Human Services)
Teetotalers will feel most comfortable in Utah (30.92%), West Virginia (40.49%), Kentucky (41.50%), Mississippi (43.63%) and Tennessee (44.22%).
(Source: Department of Health & Human Services)
(Source: Spam)
(Source: Whole Foods)
(Source: California Caviar)
(Source: USDA. DISCLAIMER: This is a self-reported market list.)
(Source: Bundle.com)