"California produces nearly 90% of all broccoli grown in the U.S., weighing in at a mind-boggling 1.21 billion pounds (or 12,110,000 hundredweight) harvested in 2024 alone. Arizona grows the second largest crop, with the remainder coming from a small handful of other regions. For a vegetable that appears everywhere from Maine to Alaska, that level of geographic concentration is striking."
"Over time, broccoli production has followed the same trajectory of other American-grown crops, now grown by huge, subsidized agriculture operations where risk is distributed across enormous acreage and per-unit costs are driven down. This cluster of circumstances allows broccoli to grow thousands of miles away to arrive cheaply and consistently, year-round, undercutting smaller, local growers who can't compete with the pricing or power of industrial agriculture."
Broccoli is widely available across the United States but is geographically concentrated in California, which produced nearly 90% of U.S. broccoli in 2024, totaling 1.21 billion pounds. Arizona supplies the second-largest crop, with a few other regions contributing minimally. California's mild temperatures, fertile soil, coastal fog and long temperate seasons enable staggered plantings and nearly continuous harvests. Inland valleys provide the infrastructure for large agricultural enterprises. Broccoli production has industrialized into huge, subsidized operations that distribute risk across vast acreage, lower per-unit costs, and allow year-round cheap supply that undercuts smaller local growers. Botanically, broccoli is not especially complex; it needs dirt, sun, and water.
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