Where Food Comes From

Did you know that worms, bees, goats, and farmers are all part of your lunch?

• Even worms? Without worms in the soil, it would be hard for any food to grow there. As worms wiggle through the soil, they fluff it up so young roots are able to stretch and grow. As the worms eat dead leaves and other food in the soil, they poop it out, filling the soil with rich vitamins that plants need to grow.

• My dad made my lunch, and he’s not a farmer! Before your dad puts the bread and all the other ingredients into your lunch, a farmer plants, waters, harvests and gets the food to the store or Farmers Market, where your dad buys it for you.

• I don’t want any bees in my lunch. I don’t want to get stung! Many types of food couldn’t grow without bees pollinating them. One out of three bites of food we eat has been pollinated by a bee, including the cucumber, tomato and mustard in your sandwich!

• There’s a chicken in my sandwich? We couldn’t have eggs without chickens to lay them. Have you ever seen a hen sitting on her eggs?

• How did a goat get in there? The cheese in your sandwich came from milk, which can come from goats, cows, sheep as well as from other animals, like yaks, in some parts of the world. Have you ever milked a goat?

So there would be no sandwich without the worm, farmer, bee, chicken, and goat. A lot of work went into making my sandwich, and it definitely tastes delicious!