Tennessee loves blackberries, Connecticut can’t get enough lentils, and Wyoming is all about watercress. What do Wisconsin and Nevada have in common? Their mutual love of sauerkraut. Looking for like-minded folks who love halibut? Pay a visit to Washington State.
At least, that’s what Twitter users in those states are tweeting about.
RELATED: The 50 Fattiest Foods in the States
So found researchers at the University of Arizona, who analyzed 3.5 million food-hashtagged tweets from October 2013 to May 2014.
Some of the more surprising findings: “Soy sauce” in Montana (really?), “pickle” in Oklahoma, and “peach” in Nebraska. Also, “durian” (a type of tropical fruit) in… Maine.
Other states were less surprising: Idaho’s word was “spuds,” Arizona’s was “tamale,” and for Texans, it’s “brisket.” Plus, nine states, including much of the southeast, are obsessed with “grits.”
RELATED: The Weird Way Twitter Can Mess With Your Relationship
The goal of the project is to identify people with health risks based on what they tweet, Mihai Surdenau, an information scientist who worked on the study, told The Verge. "The main idea is to introduce social media into public health," he said. "We're still thinking about what the best intervention is."
Researchers also discovered that the most popular meal of the day varies by region. The Northeast loves brunch, the middle-southern states are all about lunch, the middle north gets going for breakfast and the west wants dinner.
RELATED: 10 Worst States for Women’s Health