Kale is a leafy green vegetable that has become quite popular over the last few years. That’s not surprising, considering that this vegetable is a nutritional powerhouse. One cup of raw kale has only 7.2 calories, but it has a tremendous amount of vitamins A, C, and K.

It’s a good source of fiber, has no fat, and is a good source of protein. It’s no wonder that more people are eating kale than they have in the past. That’s probably why National Kale Day was invented. This holiday is observed on the first Wednesday in October every year and attempts to raise the public’s awareness about this healthy vegetable.

The History of Kale

Although the popularity of kale only began to take off during the 1990s, this vegetable has been consumed by humans since at least 2,000 B.C. It originated in Asia Minor and the Eastern Mediterranean, and the ancient Romans called it Sabellian kale.

During the 19th century, kale was brought to Canada, and later to the U.S., by Russian traders. It was officially introduced into the U.S. by David Fairchild, who was working as a USDA botanist. He had brought it from Croatia, where it was extremely popular.

Even though kale was available in Canada, the U.S., and the U.K., it wasn’t really popular. Its popularity did increase in Britain thanks to the Dig for Victory campaign in that country, however.

This campaign encouraged the citizens of Britain to grow kale to supplement their diet. In the United States, this vegetable was seen for a long time as merely something that could be used for decoration and not in a person’s diet.

The average American stance on kale began to change during the 1990s, however. This is when an increasing number of people began to understand the nutritional benefits of eating kale. It continued to grow in popularity through the 2000s and 2010s, although its popularity did suffer a dip between 2016 and 2017.

We’re currently unsure of who invented National Kale Day, and we’re not entirely sure when it was invented. Our best guess is that it’s been around for no longer than 20 years, but as we said, that’s just a guess. We’ll continue to research the origins of this holiday, but at this moment, we just don’t have the answers to many people’s questions.

Observing National Kale Day

On this day, everyone can take the time to use kale in their diet. Some of our favorite recipes for this leafy green vegetable include Kale Salad, Kale Pesto Pizza, Kale Lasagna, Kale Pesto, and Brown Rice Kale Casserole.

Yum! Of course, most people are going to want to come up with their own recipes for kale, and the Internet offers a wealth of information on the subject. No matter what recipe a person chooses, all we ask is that they let everyone know about it using the hashtag #NationalKaleDay on their social media posts.