DATES
Historians generally agree that almonds and dates, both mentioned in the Old Testament of the Bible, were among the earliest cultivated foods.
Date stones have been found in Egypt that date to 4500 BC.
There are 60 references to date palms in the Old Testament.
Dates contain up to 70% sugar by weight.
The United States produces over 52 million pounds of dates each year, mostly in California. (USDA 2003)
California grows 99.5% of all dates grown in the United States, and Arizona produces the rest. (USDA 2004).
The Coachella Valley in California is known as the Date Capital of the world.
The average date palm produces about 100 pounds of dates a year. A good date palm can produce 300 to 600 pounds of dates per year, and will produce for 100 years or more.
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