Quiz: Do You Know Where Your Food Comes From?

Even the pickiest of eaters has at least one fruit or veggie that they love, but how many of us really know where our favourite fruits and vegetables come from? To test your knowledge, take our Quiz first and see how many answers you get correct! The article below goes into depth about each quiz question answer. Don't cheat!

Apples

[1] China, USA and Poland, in that order, are the top producers of apples globally. According to the USDA, China is the largest producer of apples, producing 44 million tons annually.

Oranges

One might be tempted into thinking that the USA is the top producer of oranges because of places like Florida, but this is not the case. Brazil is the leading orange producer in the world, responsible for about 30% of global production. [2] "94% of the country’s orange production is concentrated in the state of Sao Paulo. Brazil is also the leading exporter of orange fruits and orange juice." The USA and China follow Brazil in second and third place for global orange production.

Potatoes

China is the world's largest producer of potatoes with an annual output of nearly [3] 90 million metric tons. India follows in second place with nearly half of China's annual production and Russia takes third place. 

Avocados 

Avocados require a very specific environment in which to grow. This is why most countries that produce significant amounts of avocados tend to be in central and South America. The country that produces the most avocados is Mexico. In Mexico, [4] "the total avocado production area is around 415,520 acres, which yields 1.52 million metric tons every year." Mexico is followed by the Dominican Republic and Peru in terms of avocado production.

Carrots

Carrots first came to China from places like Afghanistan and Persia and have been adopted widely in the Chinese diet. This is why China is responsible for a third of global carrot production. [5] Each year, China produces just over 16.8 million tons of carrots, which is nearly 15 times more than the country in second place, which is Uzbekistan. Russia follows closely behind Uzbekistan in third place. 

Grapes

Mainly due to the wine industry, Italy is the world's largest producer of grapes. [6] Each year, Italy produces around 8.3 million metric tons of grapes. France and the US are the second and third largest producer of grapes, and do not trail Italy's production by much. 

Cucumbers 

[7] China is, by far, the world's largest producer of cucumbers, beating out the second-largest producer of cucumbers by around 50 times. Each year, China produces over 54 million tons of cucumbers, while Turkey, in second place, produces around 1.75 million tons of cucumbers a year. Iran is in third place with a production value of around 1.5 million tons of cucumbers a year. 

Pears

Again, China dominates the rest of the world when it comes to pear production. [8] Per year, China produces around 17 million metric tons of pears. The US and Italy take distant second and third places with similar production rates that are in the range of 750,000 - 795,000 tons. 

Corn

Given that corn plays a huge role in the USA's economy, it comes as little surprise that the US is the world's leading producer of corn. [9] Each year, the US produces around 377.5 million tons of corn. China and Brazil follow in second and third place with 224.9 million tons and 83 million tons produced per year, respectively. 

Bananas

India is the world's largest producer of bananas as the fruit grows all year in India, unlike other crops which are seasonal. [10] India produces around 27.6 million tons of bananas per year, while China and the Philippines follow in second and third place. China produces under half the annual amount of bananas as India does at 12 million tons, and the Philippines only produces around 8 million tons a year. 

[1] https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/top-apple-producing-countries-in-the-world.html

[2]https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/top-orange-producing-countries-in-the-world.html

[3] https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/countries-with-the-highest-potato-production.html

[4] https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/the-biggest-avocado-producing-countries-in-the-world.html

[5]https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/the-countries-growing-the-most-carrots-and-turnips-in-the-world.html

[6] https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/top-grape-growing-countries.html

[7] https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/the-world-leaders-in-cucumber-production.html

[8] https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/the-world-s-top-pear-producing-countries.html

[9] https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/world-leaders-in-corn-maize-production-by-country.html

[10] https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/top-banana-producing-countries-in-the-world.html