From warding off vampires to adding extra flavor to dishes to its various nutritional properties, there are a lot of reasons to love garlic. But how much do you know about the history and current production of this zesty vegetable in your pantry? It turns out that we have one continent to thank for our garlic consumption.

Garlic was first grown and used around 7,000 years ago in central Asia. Garlic has remained so popular not only because of its unique flavor that compliments almost any dish, but also because of its health benefits, including antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and even anti-cancer properties.

Today, a majority of the world’s garlic — 80%, to be exact — still comes from Asia, with China producing about 21 million tonnes in 2020; demand was also high that year due to quarantine increasing interest in home cooking. In fact, in the United States, about 60% of garlic is imported from China, while a mere 40% is produced domestically.