National Ice Cream Day, National Ice Cream Month

Waaaaay back in 1984, Ronald Reagan designated July National Ice Cream Month, and the third Sunday of the month (or should that be Sundae?) National Ice Cream DAY.

Why is this a good idea, particularly today, to enjoy some ice cream? Because we are having record breaking heat, that's why!

But there are some other reasons to look at enjoying ice cream; we're one of the top ten dairy states in the nation.  Ice cream is something we enjoy that is not only pleasurable, it tends to be a distinctly made-in-America product.  Unlike our recent Olympic team clothing made in china scandal, you can be pretty comfortable that when (and it should be WHEN) you check the label in the store before buying, for where it was made and for the ingredient list  if you're not making your own from scratch, it is going to be from here in the United States.

Here is a list of some of the top dairy producing states rankings, from stuff about states.com.

	Value ($1,000)	% of Total U.S.
1.	California	5,365,992	19.61%
2.	Wisconsin	3,687,749	13.47%
3.	New York	1,950,144	7.13%
4.	Pennsylvania	1,768,976	6.46%
5.	Idaho	1,358,400	4.96%
6.	Minnesota	1,336,334	4.88%
7.	Michigan	1,020,380	3.73%
8.	New Mexico	1,000,224	3.65%
9.	Texas	975,718	3.57%
10.	Washington	857,010	3.13%
11.	Ohio	751,980	2.75%
12.	Iowa	620,052	2.27%