Pennsylvania veggies by the numbers

August is Pennsylvania Produce Month.

If you're interested in eating locally grown foods, there's no time like the present.

According to the Pennsylvania Vegetable Marketing and Research Program, Pennsylvania's 3,950 vegetable growers plant 49,400 acres to produce more than 280,000 tons of vegetables for fresh and processing use.

Sweet corn is Pennsylvania's largest vegetable crop.

Growers plant about 14,700 acres per year ranking the state as the seventh largest producer of fresh market sweet corn.

Potatoes are the state's second-largest vegetable crop at about 8,900 acres.

Snap beans are the third-largest vegetable crop, with about 8,000 acres being grown. Most of the snap beans are grown for processing, ranking the state fifth in the nation in processing snap bean production.

Pennsylvania ranks fourth in the nation in the production of pumpkins, the state's fourth-largest vegetable crop with 6,900 acres being grown.

Tomatoes are the state's fifth-largest vegetable crop. Pennsylvania growers plant 2,300 acres of fresh market tomatoes, ranking Pennsylvania thirteenth in the nation, plus about 1,000 acres of processing tomatoes.

The other top 10 Pennsylvania vegetable crops are peppers at about 1,200 acres; cantaloupes at 1,000 (eighth in the nation); cabbage also at about 1,000 acres (thirteenth in the nation); squash at 900 acres; and watermelons at 800 acres.

Nutrition by the numbers

The latest nutrition advice is that half of your plate should be vegetables and fruits.

Health experts recommend that the average American should:

• Eat 2 to 2.5 cups of vegetables per day.

• Choose a variety of vegetables each day to get a good mix of vitamins and minerals.

• Strive to eat the following amounts of vegetables from each of the five groups of vegetables each week:

Dark green: broccoli, dark green leaf lettuce, kale, spinach, turnip greens 3 cups

Orange: carrots, acorn squash, butternut squash, pumpkin, sweet potato 2 cups

Legumes: dried beans and peas 3 cups

Starchy: corn, green peas, lima beans, potatoes 3 to 6 cups

Other: asparagus, beets, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, celery, cucumbers, eggplant, green beans, peppers, lettuce, onions, tomatoes 6 to 7 cups.

For prize-winning vegetable recipes that will help you include local vegetables in your menus, visit paveggies.org.