National and international

• In an average year, U.S. farmers grow about 250 million bushels of apples.
• About 60 percent of the U.S. apple crop is consumed fresh.
• Red Delicious is the apple variety with the greatest production in the U.S.
• The top U.S. apple varieties are: Red Delicious, Golden Delicious, Gala, Granny Smith, Fuji and McIntosh.
• The average American consumes about 19 pounds of fresh apples each year. 
• The average American eats just over 4 pounds of canned apples and about 1.7 gallons of apple juice annually.
• Around the world, apple growers grow over 1 billion bushels of apples.
• Largest apple producers (in decreasing order): China, United States, Italy, France, Poland and Germany.
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Vermont

• Vermont’s fresh apple crop is valued at $10-12 million each year.
• Processed apple products, like cider, applesauce and hard cider bring an additional $10-12 million into the state each year.
• Vermont’s leading apple varieties are McIntosh, Cortland, Red Delicious and Empire.
• Vermont has almost 4,000 acres of commercial apple production.
• McIntosh apples became the state’s leading variety after an extremely cold winter (1917-18) devastated most other varieties.
• On average, it costs Vermont’s apple growers about $12 to produce, harvest, store and market one bushel of apples.
• In 1999, the Vermont legislature designated the apple as the state fruit, and the apple pie as the state pie.

Health & Nutrition

• A medium-size apple weighs154 gram or 5.5 ounces.
• A medium-size apple has only 80 calories, no fat, no sodium and no cholesterol.
• Cornell University researchers have found that that 100 grams of unpeeled fresh apple (about 2/3 of an apple) provides the total antioxidant activity of 1,500 milligrams of vitamin C.
• Researchers in Finland reported in the May 2000 issue of The European Journal of Clinical Nutrition that individuals who ate the most apples had the lowest risk of thrombic stroke, possibly due to phytonutrients found in apples.
• British researchers have found that apple eaters have better lung function than non-apple eaters, as reported in the January 2000 journal, Thorax.
• Epidemiologists from Finland’s National Public Health Institute found that consumption of a favonoid-rich diet (including apples) was associated with a reduced risk of developing cancer.