Gilroy is not the garlic capital of the world

I’m a bit of a foodie, so the location of the garlic capital actually matters to me. Here’s the scoop from the SF Chronicle, which was covering the annual garlic fest this weekend:

“In reality, Gilroy hasn’t even been the garlic capital of California for 20 years, since most growers moved their operations to the San Joaquin Valley. Only 300 acres are planted around Gilroy, said Don Christopher, chairman of Christopher Ranch, the nation’s largest fresh garlic shipper.

And China has far surpassed California as the world’s garlic supplier, growing 13 billion to 16 billion pounds a year, compared with the state’s 400 million pounds, he said.