DETROIT – It's National French Fry Day!
There should be no surprise that such a day exists for celebrating one of America's favorite foods. In 2013 alone, about 115 pounds per person of white potatoes were available for Americans to eat, two-thirds of which were used for French fries, potato chips, and other frozen or processed potato products, according to the United States Department of Agriculture.
From the USDA:
White potatoes accounted for 30 percent of the 384.4 pounds per person of vegetables and legumes available in 2013. Tomatoes had a 22-percent share of vegetable availability, with 20.2 pounds per person of fresh tomatoes and 65.9 pounds per person of tomatoes processed in a variety of ways: canned tomatoes, tomato sauces, or as an ingredient in processed stews, soups, and other items for foodservice establishments or supermarket shelves. Fresh lettuce (head lettuce, romaine, and leaf lettuce) rounded out the top 3 vegetables at 25.5 pounds per person, or 7 percent of total vegetable availability, in 2013.
So people are eating a lot of French fries in the United States. But as you know, not all French fries are created equal. Here in the Detroit area you can find a wide variety of fries: curly, seasoned, shoestring, steak-cut fries, waffle, chili cheese, garlic, sweet potato, etc. The list goes on.
What are the best places in Metro Detroit to find these French fries? Do you have a favorite place? Please share in the comments so we can get to the bottom of this.
Chuck Gaidica, Jason Carr and Tati Amare tried out some fries this morning on Live in the D. You can watch what they had to say above.
Meanwhile, the below video is from the "How It's Made" series. It focuses on the production of frozen French fries.