Celebrate the Sandwich
Approximately 300 million sandwiches are eaten in America each day. Americans have certainly embraced sandwiches as a go-to meal for breakfast, lunch, or dinner so it’s only right we give this ingenious creation the recognition it deserves! So, join us in celebrating National Sandwich Day today!
November 3rd is a notable date in the life of the sandwich – according to some it shares a birthday with its creator, 18th Century English noble John Montague, the Fourth Earl of Sandwich. Story has it that the noble, a serious gambler, was looking for a convenient and efficient way to eat his lunch of sliced meats without leaving the “poker” table, enter bread. With bread as a backbone, what’s more fitting is that the sandwich’s unofficial birthday falls within National Bread Month.
The versatility of the sandwich is its most notable quality, lending itself as a blank canvas to creators. With the ability to be served hot or cold, sweet or savory and in all shapes and sizes, the sandwich begs for creativity. Additionally, sandwiches are one of the few food items that have the ability to offer balanced nutrition in one portable, customizable, and delicious package. Bread is the sandwich staple providing many of the essential nutrients our bodies need to stay healthy and help fight diseases such as heart disease, diabetes, some cancers and birth defects. The USDA Dietary Guidelines recommend eating six one-ounce servings of grain foods each day, with half of those servings coming from whole grain. Enjoying a sandwich at any time ensures at least two of the required six servings of grain foods each day.
If you are looking for new ways to stack your sandwich, sammy, sub, hoagie, grinder (or whatever you call it) this month, visit www.gowiththegrain.org for more sandwich recipes.