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Amount (in billions of gallons) of wine produced in the world last year, according to new figures just released by the OIV (International Organization of Vine and Wine). This is a slight (-1%) decline from 2020. Severe weather in some European Union countries caused production there to drop, even though Italy, France, and Spain together still account for a whopping 47% of world wine production. It was an especially good year for Portugal where wine production rose 14% in 2021 over 2020.

In 1930s New York, Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia took on the mafia by banning what food product?

A. Tomatoes

B. Pasta

C. Grapes

D. Artichokes

The U.S. Artichoke industry emerged around 1900 in California, and much of the crop was shipped east, where Italian Americans paid handsomely for the edible thistles. At first, mafia families used their control of rail-line entry points into New York to impose an informal import tax on artichoke shipments. But later, they began intimidating growers into limiting crop sizes and selling at deflated prices. By 1935, the Sicilian American mafia had controlled the American artichoke market (worth about $12.5 million in 2020 dollars) for at least two decades. Mayor LaGuardia had campaigned for office on a promise to take on the mob, and had a penchant for drama. On December 21, 1935, surrounded by horn-blowing policemen, he hopped onto the back of a vegetable truck at the Bronx Terminal Market to denounce the mafia’s tactics and embargo the artichokes.

Capsule

A capsule is the molded plastic, bimetal, or aluminum sheath that fits over the cork and top part of the neck of a wine bottle. Historically, capsules were made of lead to keep animals and… Continue reading

6.9

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