US cauliflower per capita availability

As cauliflower has become more available to Americans per capita, the Marvel Cinematic Universe has earned more money at the US box office, a correlation that suggests either that superheroes run on cruciferous vegetables or that the same cultural forces that put cauliflower rice in every Whole Foods also put Iron Man in every multiplex. The coefficient is 0.936 across thirteen years, during which America simultaneously discovered that cauliflower can pretend to be anything—rice, pizza crust, buffalo wings—and that Marvel can pretend any character is worth a billion-dollar movie. Both are impressive feats of transformation.

Cauliflower per capita availability grew as the vegetable underwent a remarkable cultural rehabilitation, transforming from a forgettable side dish into the darling of the low-carb, keto, and plant-based movements. US cauliflower production increased roughly 40 percent between 2008 and 2022 as demand surged for cauliflower-based substitutes. The MCU's US box office grew from about 300 million in 2008 (Iron Man's debut year) to peaks exceeding 2.5 billion, driven by an interconnected franchise model that turned comic book movies into the dominant entertainment form. Both trends are wellness-and-entertainment stories of the 2010s: Americans were simultaneously eating healthier and watching more superhero movies, driven by the same educated, affluent, urban demographic that shops at Trader Joe's and buys opening-weekend tickets.

Thirteen years of cauliflower and Marvel growing together is the most 2010s correlation imaginable: a vegetable and a franchise, both reinventing themselves for the same consumer, both succeeding beyond anyone's expectations. The cauliflower pretends to be rice, the superhero pretends to have depth, and both sell remarkably well. Endgame, with a side of florets.