In 1984, President Ronald Reagan declared the month of July as National Ice Cream Month. In the proclamation, he called for all people of the United States to observe these events with “appropriate ceremonies and activities.” So, by presidential order, pass the scoop and dig in!

But before you head over to your favorite ice cream emporium, you might be interested in knowing  that, according to the International Dairy Foods Association in Washington, D.C., the five most popular ice cream flavors are vanilla (26%), chocolate (12.9%), Neapolitan (4.8%), strawberry (4.3%), and cookies ‘n’ cream (4%). If you’re doing the math, that’s 52%, so I’d assume the remaining 48% includes “Chunky Monkey”, “Cherry Garcia” and all other hybrid flavors.

You might also be surprised to learn that Sacramento rates 10th in a Yahoo survey of U.S. regions that most love ice cream! Top honors go to Los Angeles, New York, Houston, Philadelphia, the San Francisco Bay Area, Chicago, Dallas-Fort Worth, Washington, D.C. and Atlanta. I’m not sure what correlations, if any, can be drawn from that factoid, but hey, you’ll at least be able to impress your kids or your honey over a double chocolate sundae.

So, do as President Reagan asked. Be a good American. Eat ice cream! Think of it as your civic duty. And for a little more fun (Is that possible?), find out what your favorite ice cream flavor says about you.