Did you know Broccoli has been around for more than 2000 years? However, broccoli has only been grown in American gardens for the last 200 years! FAR OUT!

The vegetable is known to have been grown in France and Italy during the sixteenth century. The word broccoli comes from the Italian brocco meaning arm or branch.

Broccoli is a member of the Cruciferae family which means it's related to cabbage, cauliflower, brussels sprouts, etc. The word broccolo is the diminutive form of brocco and refers to cabbage sprout, while broccoli is plural and refers to the numerous shoots in the form of Brassica Oleracea. There are two types of broccoli: sprouting/Italian broccoli (Brassica Oleracea Italica) the most common, and heading broccoli (Brassica Oleracea) which looks like cauliflower.

Little was known about broccoli until the 1920's, when the first commercially grown broccoli was harvested in Brooklyn, New York. The D'Arrigo Brothers Company experimented with Italian sprouting broccoli in California in 1923 and sent a few crates to Boston. By 1925 the broccoli market had been established.

Broccoli grows best in areas with a cool climate and moist soil. It is grown in the Salinas Valley of California and as far nto the north east as Maine.

Broccoli is also a very dence crop. Over 30,000 plants can be grown in one acre of land. FAR OUT!

Nutritionally, broccoli is know as the "Crown of Jewel Nutrition" in-riched vegetable for it's vitamins and minerals. It's a good source of Vitamin A , Potassium, Folacin, Iron and Fiber. Or maybe it's because broccoli has as much calcium ounce per ounce as milk Or better yet- maybe it's because it contains a few important phytochemicals: beta-carotene, indoles and isothiocyanates. What is so important about phytochemicals? Well, phytochemicals prevent carcinogens(cancer causing substance) from forming. They also stop carcinogens from getting to target cells and help boost enzymes that detoxify carcinogens

So next time you sit down for dinner and broccoli is on the menu. Remember...broccoli really is good for you!

Other Broccoli facts

One-third pound stalk has more vitamin C than 2 1/2 pounds of oranges or 200+ apples

Broccoli has been served up for dinner for at least 2,000 years

California is broccoli country -- growing nearly 98% of the nation's crop"Many fruits and vegetables are loaded with substances that seem to block cancer cells before they turn deadly. Broccoli tops the list, offering an astounding 30 types of these agents."

"Americans get far more vitamin C from oranges and their juice than from any other food. But the following contain at least as much vitamin C as an orange: one cup of strawberries, one green bell pepper (red and yellow bell peppers have far more), one kiwi fruit, or one cup cooked broccoli, cauliflower, or brussel sprout

"Eating broccoli four to five times a week is just right from a health standpoint. It's truly a five-star superfood!"

"The bagged salads and wrapped precut vegetables now on the market can be nutritent-savers as well as time savers. According to research at the University of Kentucky, the special plastic wrap and bags used for most of these products help keep them fresh longer and reduce the loss of vitamin C and beta carotene by regulating the amount of water, oxygen, and carbon dioxide inside."