I trust the numbers. The numbers agree with me.

Every year I am asked the same question. How do you decide? And every year I give the same answer. I do not decide. The numbers decide. I simply write them down.

This is not modesty. It is method. I have been eating and evaluating food for long enough to know that personal feeling is the enemy of accurate assessment. Feeling says fried chicken. Method says steak. Method is almost always right.

Let me walk you through my rankings for Season One of the Sunflower Showdown. I have ranked fifteen foods. I have done so carefully. I stand behind every number.

Steak is first. This is not a surprise if you have been paying attention. Steak is the most defensible number one in any comprehensive food ranking. It has range. It can be simple or extraordinary. It rewards the grower who understands its demands. I ranked it first because it deserves to be first, and anyone who ranked it elsewhere has not thought carefully about what they are doing.

Pizza is second. I want to be clear that pizza at number two is not a consolation prize. Pizza is a serious food. It is, in many ways, a more technically demanding pick than steak. The margin for error is smaller. The upside, properly executed, is as high as anything on this list. I ranked it second because I believe in it, and I believe the grower who picks it will have made a wise and defensible choice.

Spaghetti is third on my list. I know some of my colleagues disagree. Bobby ranked it seventh. Anton ranked it third as well, so at least someone else sees what I see. Spaghetti is a test of patience and precision. The growers who dismiss it as ordinary have not been paying attention to what ordinary can become in the right hands.

I placed fried chicken sixth. This is not because I dislike fried chicken. I like fried chicken very much. But fried chicken is a food that peaks dramatically and falls fast. The window of excellence is narrow. In a season-long competition measured week by week, that volatility is a liability. The numbers reflect this. I do not apologize for the numbers.

I want to say one more thing about the bottom of my list. Donut is fifteenth. I know this is a strong position. But a donut is a dessert that does not pretend to be anything else, and in a direct comparison with everything above it, a donut cannot hold the field. I have nothing against donuts. I have rankings to defend.

The growers have been notified. The seeds are in the ground — or will be soon. I will be watching, as I always do, with great attention and complete impartiality.

I trust the numbers. The numbers have not let me down yet.