Ask average Americans where their food comes from and one answer will top the rest: “the supermarket.” Despite the historically intimate relationship between humans and food, people now live farther and farther away from where their food comes from. America was once a nation of farmers; now it’s a land of consumers and city dwellers.
However, in the face of an increasingly enormous and anonymous food industry, people are showing renewed interest in what they eat. More and more, Americans are shopping for local and organic goods.
This Thanksgiving, the experts at FindTheHome and FindTheCompany want to help you find out where your Thanksgiving dinner is (probably) from. Using data from Dun and Bradstreet, they found the top 20 places in America that produce the most turkeys, squash, cranberries, sweet potatoes, pecans and pumpkins. The list is ordered by the total number of Thanksgiving food sources in a particular area. Ties were broken by identifying which place had more turkey farms, as turkeys are the star of any Thanksgiving dinner's show.
#20. Jackson County, WI
Total Thanksgiving Food Sources: 16
Cranberry Bogs: 16
#19. Otter Tail County, MN
Total Thanksgiving Food Sources: 16
Farms Raising Turkeys: 16
#18. Stanislaus County, CA
Even though Stanislaus County is only ranked as the 18th most likely provider of your Thanksgiving dinner, it has the widest variety of Thanksgiving food sources. With turkey farms, sweet potato farms, pecan groves and pumpkin farms, Stanislaus residents have plenty of local options for sourcing their holiday ingredients locally.
Total Thanksgiving Food Sources: 18
Farms Raising Turkeys: 12
Sweet Potato Farms: 3
Pecan Groves: 2
Pumpkin Farms: 1
#17. Augusta County, VA
Total Thanksgiving Food Sources: 18
Farms Raising Turkeys: 17
Pumpkin Farms: 1
#16. Peach County, GA
Apparently, peaches aren't the only things Peach County, Georgia is known for. With 18 reported pecan groves, Peach County may be where your pecan pie's ingredients originated.
Farms Raising Turkeys: 18
Pecan Groves: 18
#15. Calhoun County, MS
Total Thanksgiving Food Sources: 19
Sweet Potato Farms: 19
#14. Mercer County, OH
Total Thanksgiving Food Sources: 19
Farms Raising Turkeys: 19
#13. Merced County, CA
Total Thanksgiving Food Sources: 20
Sweet Potato Farms: 14
Farms Raising Turkeys: 6
#12. Dubois County, IN
Total Thanksgiving Food Sources: 20
Farms Raising Turkeys: 20
#11. El Paso County, TX
Total Thanksgiving Food Sources: 21
Pecan Groves: 21
#10. Duplin County, NC
Total Thanksgiving Food Sources: 21
Farms Raising Turkeys: 21
#9. Coos County, OR
Total Thanksgiving Food Sources: 24
Cranberry Bogs: 24
#8. Monroe County, WI
Total Thanksgiving Food Sources: 24
Cranberry Bogs: 24
#7. Pacific County, WA
Total Thanksgiving Food Sources: 25
Cranberry Bogs: 25
#6. Kandiyohi County, MN
Total Thanksgiving Food Sources: 25
Farms Raising Turkeys: 25
#5. Dona Ana County, NM
Total Thanksgiving Food Sources: 28
Pecan Groves: 28
#4. Sampson County, NC
Total Thanksgiving Food Sources: 29
Farms Raising Turkeys: 25
Sweet Potato Farms: 3
Squash Farms: 1
#3. Rockingham County, VA
Total Thanksgiving Food Sources: 32
Farms Raising Turkeys: 32
#2. Wood County, WI
Total Thanksgiving Food Sources: 38
Cranberry Bogs: 37
Pumpkin Farms: 1
#1. Plymouth County, MA
It seems fitting that our list ends where Thanksgiving began, in Plymouth County, Massachusetts. With an astounding 90 cranberry bogs, two turkey and turkey egg farms, and one squash farm, Plymouth County is the top provider of America's Thanksgiving dinner ingredients.
Total Thanksgiving Food Sources: 93
Cranberry Bogs: 90
Farms Raising Turkeys: 2
Squash Farms: 1
