First observed in 1984, October was designated National Pizza Month by Gerry Durnell, founder of Pizza Today magazine (simply because that was the month his magazine was to debut.) At that time there were no periodicals dedicated to the pizza industry so Durnell decided to solve the problem himself with his creation of a national pizza-oriented magazine, along with the introduction of National Pizza Month. The idea took hold officially when congress designated October as the National Pizza Month in 1987.
National Pizza Month is observed across most of North America, although each month could be ‘pizza month’ as an estimated 94% of Americans eat pizza at least once a month and an estimated 63,000 pizzerias exist in the United States alone. In fact, pizza has become a $30 billion industry in the U.S. These numbers equate to about 23 lbs or 45 slices of pizza per person in the U.S. per year. Americans devour 100 acres of pizza per day, or 350 slices per second! That’s a lot of pizza!
Where did Americans’ love for pizza begin? It is believed the returning of American soldiers who fought in Italy during World War II brought back a hunger for the pizza they enjoyed while oversees. Whatever the reason, we Americans love our pizza.