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February 9

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National Pizza Day: A Slice of Shared Italian-American History

(Originally published Feb. 8, 2017 for National Pizza Day) This year you will likely eat about 23 pounds of pizza. And you’re not alone in your cheese-laden love affair. Collectively, Americans will devour about 3 billion pizzas before the end of this calendar year. September 20 is National Pepperoni Pizza Day, and we should take a minute to consider whether there is any other single food that has captured our cultural creativity or embraced our ever-changing, national heritage more than this versatile staple? Pizza embodies the region where it is made. For independent pizzeria owners, it’s a labor or love. More than 75,000 pizza restaurants make up 17% of all restaurants nationwide. In the U.S., pizza has become a passion. But of course we know, like most foods, Americans can’t take credit for its invention. The origins of pizza could actually be credited to anyone who first learned the secret of…