October is National Seafood Month, celebrating a nutrient rich food that is a good source of protein, vitamins and minerals. Because it really does turn out to be brain food, government and health organizations recommend eating two seafood meals each week. Seafood used to be mostly confined to the coastal regions, but with advances in frozen food and the speed of distribution, just about every kind of fish and shellfish is available all through the country. Americans eat an average of nearly 14.5 pounds of seafood annually, dining on the fishing industry’s annual catch of about 9.5 billion pounds. There are nearly 600 seafood product preparation and packaging establishments in the U.S., employing around 31,000 people in a $10.5 billion a year business. You can find more facts about America from the U.S. Census Bureau, online at www.census.gov