In this activity, students will examine a variety of foods and their ingredients to determine which foods contain ingredients that may have come from genetically engineered plants.
This activity details instruction for making butter in a small baby-food sized jar.
“Bringing Biotechnology to Life” is an activity resource for science educators and others interested in learning more about biotechnology and its role in food production. There are seven lessons and activities covering topics such as DNA, selective breeding, agricultural biotechnology, and more.
In addition to selective breeding, genetic engineering tools are used by plant breeders to solve some agricultural challenges such as producing enough food to feed a growing global population or minimizing production impacts on our environment. Some plants have been engineered to be more nutritious, more resistant to pests, or more drought tolerant. In this activity, students will review the process of bacterial transformation and then look at the processes involved in creating genetically engineered plants.
Demonstrate proper handwashing technique, proper surface cleaning and how to prevent the spread of germs. This kit includes a gel, lotion, or a powder which glows when exposed to a long wave UV light. This kit can be purchased from a variety of online retailers, search keyword "Glo Germ."
Do you have a complicated issue or problem to discuss with your students? Use a beach ball (or any other type of ball) to demonstrate why a person might have a different "point of view." This activity helps students recognize that every issue can be seen from different points of view.
Through this web quest, students will examine where their food comes from, federal agencies involved in protecting our food supply, how imported foods such as honey present a safety challenge, and what measures are being taken to meet these challenges. This activity can be paired with secondary lessons on food safety.
In this activity, students will explore the global problem of hunger and nutrient availability along with techniques that are being used to improve nutrient supplies where shortages exist. Students will also exercise their ability to identify credible information sources.
This activity helps students to understand how germs are spread and how they can prevent disease by washing their hands properly.
You're scrolling through social media and come across a food meme. Is this fact or fiction? Use this activity to help students debunk food and farming misconceptions. Then, put these resources to work by incorporating the agricultural themes into student research projects.
Have you ever wondered why Swiss cheese has holes? You'll find out in this story about a Swiss cheese maker named Casper Jaggi. Casper Jaggi was only six years old when his father taught him how to make cheese in the Swiss Alps. In 1913, Jaggi left Switzerland in search of new opportunities in the United States. Like many other Swiss, he settled in Green County, Wisconsin, where the rolling hills dotted with grazing cows reminded him of home. And soon, he'd be turning cow's milk into cheese, just as he did in Switzerland. The book opens the doors to Jaggi's Brodhead Swiss Cheese Factory—largest factory of its kind in Wisconsin in the 1950s. Archival photos help illustrate, step-by-step, the process Jaggi and his workers followed to transform 2,000 pounds of milk in a copper kettle into a 200-pound wheel of Swiss cheese. Jaggi was one of the many European immigrants who helped establish Wisconsin's reputation for delicious cheese. The Artisan cheese makers crafting award-winning cheeses today are continuing this rich tradition in America's Dairyland.
"I told my three sons stories about germs more than fifty years ago as fanciful bedtime tales." So begins this charming collection of poems written by Nobel Prize-winning scientist Arthur Kornberg to help us learn about the germs that help and harm us. These rollicking, entertaining, and informative poems have been illustrated with witty and amusing watercolors and the book also contains electron micrographs and a glossary for the student who wants to go deeper into the world of microbiology.
In 2000, the author began research for this book on the world's eating habits. Each family was asked to purchase a typical week's groceries, which were artfully arrayed—whether sacks of grain and potatoes and overripe bananas, or rows of packaged cereals, sodas and take-out pizzas—for a full-page family portrait. A detailed listing of the goods, broken down by food groups and expenditures are shown, then a more general discussion of how the food is raised and used, illustrated with a variety of photos and a family recipe. While the photos are extraordinary—fine enough for a stand-alone volume—it's the questions these photos ask that make this volume so gripping. This is a beautiful, quietly provocative volume.
In the early 1880s, people did not understand why food spoiled. Louis Pasteur discovered that small germs cause spoilage. He began working on a process that would help food last longer. Inside this graphic novel, the reader learns about the experiments Pasteur conducted and the process of pasteurization.
Life is hard for poor Irish potato farmers, but 12-year-old Nory Ryan and her family have always scraped by... until one morning, Nory wakes to the foul, rotting smell of diseased potatoes dying in the fields. And just like that, all their hopes for the harvest--for this year and next--are dashed. Hunger sets in quickly. The beaches are stripped of edible seaweed, the shore is emptied of fish, desperate souls even chew on grass for the nourishment. As her community falls apart, Nory scrambles to find food for her family. Meanwhile, the specter of America lurks, where, the word is, no one is ever hungry, and horses carry milk in huge cans down cobblestone streets.
Molly and her mom don't always have enough food, so one Saturday they visit their local food pantry. Molly's happy to get food to eat until she sees her classmate Caitlin, who's embarrassed to be at the food pantry. Can Molly help Caitlin realize that everyone needs help sometimes?
A mother-daughter team bring easy cheese making right into your kitchen with this fun guide for kids and families. Step-by-step photos take kids ages 8–12 through the cheese making process, then teach them how to make 12 classic favorites, including mozzarella, feta, ricotta, and cream cheese. A hearty helping of kitchen chemistry and math along with bits of international cheese making history add to the education.
After sparrows ate too much grain, it was determined to banish them from China. However, an unintended consequence surfaced. The locust population grew to plague proportions and contributed to widespread famine. Based on a true story about the 1958 Sparrow War in China, this event highlights the important connections between managed and natural ecosystems.
Maria's family are poor Honduran farmers, growing barely enough to eat. Then a new teacher comes to town and shows Maria sustainable farming practices that yield good crops. An inspiring story, based on actual events, that shows us how farms and hopes are transformed as good gardens begin to grow.
Every day, all over the world children eat together at school. Use this book to help children compare and contrast school lunch in different countries and cultures. Each page has a photograph of a typical lunch along with a detailed description about the menu and what school lunch is like. This book will help your students "visit" school lunch in France, Mexico, Kenya, Canada, Brazil, Russia, Peru, America, and more.
Use this monthly bulletin as a companion resource for secondary lessons about DNA, biotechnology, genetic engineering, and many other related topics. Each 2-page bulletin addresses current topics in biotechnology including the development and safety of GM crops, GMO product labeling, plant breeding, GMOs and human healthy, and many more.
Nutrition Ag Mag
The Nutrition Ag Mag is an agricultural magazine for students. This issue focuses on nutrition with segments highlighting physical fitness, career options, making healthy dietary choices, and how to read a food label. The entire publication can be viewed online.
Kit
Biotech Cheese Kit
Make cheese in your classroom using the same fast methods as industry. This kit includes the recipe to make cheese (also
available to download), cheesecloth, and two different types of rennet - one from an organic animal source and one from a genetically modified yeast source. You add water, powdered milk, and buttermilk. This is a great activity for exploring enzymes and chemistry as well as the benefits and concerns surrounding genetic modification.
Order this kit online from agclassroomstore.com.
Food Models
These full-color, life-size cardboard photographs of 200 commonly eaten foods are pictured in portion sizes with nutrition information presented in label format on the back. A perfect hands-on tool for teaching food and nutrition concepts! Included with your purchase are the Food Models and Leader Guide.
Order this kit online from agclassroomstore.com.
GM Leaf Test Kit
This laboratory activity demonstrates the difference between a conventional soybean plant and a genetically modified Roundup Ready® soybean plant. Students will use a leaf sample from both plant varieties to test for the presence of the
CP4 EPSPS protein.
Order this kit online from agclassroomstore.com.
GM Soybean Seed Kit
Provide a hands-on experience for students to compare conventional soybean seeds to genetically modified Roundup Ready® soybean seeds. This kit includes conventional soybean seeds, GM soybean seeds, and the testing materials to indicate which seed contains the protein responsible for making Roundup Ready® soybeans tolerant to the herbicide glyphosate.
Order this kit online from agclassroomstore.com.
Hen House Prototype
Creating a prototype is an important part of the engineering process. Adding paper circuits and fans to a cardboard model can be a cost effective way for students to build a prototype. The Hen House Prototype Kit contains copper tape, white LEDs, 3V coin cell batteries, hobby motors, and propellers. The kit contains enough materials for 12 small groups of students.
Order this kit online from agclassroomstore.com.
Mozzarella Cheese Kit
Making mozzarella cheese in the classroom can provide an engaging opportunity to discuss food processing, the science of enzymes and proteins, careers, and more. This kit includes rennet (enzymes), and citric acid (acid), two of the components used in the cheesemaking process.
Order this kit online from agclassroomstore.com.
Live Hunger Map
The World Food Programme (WFP) Live Hunger Map monitors food security in more than 90 countries and issues predictions where data is limited. The live map aims to identify areas that are currently food insecure or are sliding towards food insecurity. A static hunger map can be found if you click on "undernourishment" at the bottom of the page. It includes data from 2017-2019.
The Complexities of our Global Food System
The global food system is balanced between the supply and demand of food and tethered to our environment. These
high resolution PDFs demonstrate visually the complexity of agriculture. These maps highlight how the global food system is the balance between supply and demand of food as governed by geography and politics. These elements are divided into natural systems and human systems.
"Cheese Science-As Gouda as TV Gets" Video Series
The Utah Education Network (UEN) website has a series of 25 three minute video clips about cheese and food science. The videos teach science, chemistry, and physics principles in addition to highlighting many careers in related fields.
Amazing Time-Lapse: Bees Hatch Before Your Eyes
This one-minute time-lapse video captures the fascinating transformation of larvae into bees. Witness this mesmerizing life cycle with close-up footage from photographer Anand Varma.
America's Heartland: Riding the Range on a Utah Cattle Drive
Give students a peek into the lives of the Heaton's— a cattle ranching family from Alton, Utah. Follow them on their 30-mile journey from Rush Meadow to Dixie National Forest and learn more about the challenges these hardworking cowboys face.
Animated Life: Seeing the Invisible
This animated feature celebrates 17th-century citizen-scientist Antonie van Leeuwenhoek, whose discoveries of microbes changed our view of the biological world. Also available in Spanish.
Brittlelactica: Planet in Need
The "Brittlelactica" integrated campaign tells the story of a race of calcium deficient aliens who discover the health benefits of milk and begin abducting cows, whom they dub "The Supreme Ones."
Cows and Climate
Watch a series of video clips by Dr. Frank Mitloehner as he explains livestock's role in the global food system and our environment. Dr. Mitloehner is a professor and air quality scientist in the area of animal science at UC Davis. These videos help answer questions about our diet and climate change, the environmental footprint of cars vs cows, methane from livestock, food waste, and solutions for a sustainable future.
Crash Course Geography
Crash Course Geography has 50 episodes to support geography courses. The first half of the collection focuses on physical geography, processes, and phenomena. The second half focuses on human geography and explores the ways people occupy the Earth's surface.
Dairy Tour 360
Milk, leche, lait. No matter what you call it, real milk offers tons of nutrition and is sustainably produced—and we've got the receipts. Come behind the scenes on a few dairy farms: see the cow care and learn the real science. Oh, and did we mention you'll be flying around on a butterfly? Available for
desktop or
VR headset use.
Dairy in the Mountain West: Our Family of Farmers
This video highlights dairy farmers and their families. See many different dairy farms, learn about how they care for animals, dairy farmer's priorities in animal welfare, and how dairy farms utilize their resources to increase their sustainability and decrease their environmental footprint.
Eggs 101: An Egg's Journey from the Farm to Our Tables
Designed for the classroom, this collection of short videos showcases an egg’s journey from the hen house to our plates. This flexible series includes seven videos that give an in-depth explanation of an egg’s journey; from the barn experience to environmental management and from the egg itself to the homes of families nationwide.
Everything is Chemical
A 4-minute video clip teaching that everything, including plants and animals is made of chemical elements. See how chemistry relates to agriculture to balance feed rations, calculate fertilizer application rates, and digestion.
Food Facts: 7 Reasons to Eat Insects
When discussing world food supply, hunger, or agricultural sustainability discuss the idea of eating bugs as an alternative protein source. How does it compare to other forms of nutrition in terms of protein, vitamins, minerals, and amino acids?
Give it a Minute: Organic & Conventional Farming
Do you know the difference between organic and conventional (non-organic) foods? In one minute this video explains the differences and similarities in how these foods are produced on the farm.
How Are GMOs Created?
Use this 5-minute video to illustrate the complete process for developing a GMO through the scientific method and research. The Hawaiian papaya story is used as an example for resolving the papaya ring spot virus that had devastated the crop until a GMO variety was developed. Researchers and farmers turned to the development of GMOs as early as 1985 to improve the quality of plants to resist insects and disease while battling problems in production.
How Do Farmers Make Seedless Fruit?
Explore how seedless fruits are made and how trees are reproduced without seeds in this 4-minute video.
How Does it Grow? Video Series
This video series follows food from farm to fork. Learn more about potatoes, asparagus, mushrooms, cranberries, garlic, cauliflower, spinach, oranges and more. These videos are a great way to introduce students to food science and cooking, and to increase understanding of the sources of our food.
How It's Made: Honey
This five-minute video travels from field to hive to factory, illustrating all the steps involved in making honey. Get a close-up look at a beekeeper opening a hive and a queen bee in the midst of her hive, and watch frames of honeycomb go through a factory to yield a number of products.
How to Feed the World in 2050: Actions in a Changing Climate video
Learn how climate change has affected agriculture and how steps can be taken to preserve our ability to sustainably produce food for our planet.
How to Read Food Labels, From Free-range to Fair Trade
Listen to a 22-minute podcast describing food labels related to agricultural production practices.
How to Read Nutrition Facts - Food Labels Made Easy video
A 5-minute explanation of the Nutrition Facts label. Learn about servings, serving size, calories, fat, and more.
Learn GMO
Join director and writer, Nick Saik on his skeptical adventure to understand GMOs. Videos address specific questions such as Why are there two kinds of farming? Is the glass half empty or half full? or Why are there two kinds of food?
Our Beautiful Planet: The Climate Secrets of Cows
Our Beautiful Planet is a series of compelling 5-to-7-minute science films highlighting the cutting edge research that climate scientists are doing to solve some of the world’s most pressing issues. Discover how cattle impact the climate and what research is being conducted to mitigate the greenhouse gas emissions of cattle.
TEDMED Talk: What Does the World Eat?
Peter Menzel is a freelance photojournalist known for his coverage of international feature stories on science and the environment, and his wife Faith D’Aluisio is a former award-winning television news producer. In this 14-minute talk, Menzel discusses the projects they have undertaken together, including publishing The Hungry Planet. He further explores the changes they have observed in what and how people eat around the world, touching on issues such as obesity and food security.
TedTalk- The First 21 Days of a Bees Life
Photographer Anand Varma raised bees in his backyard and in front of a camera to get an up close view. This National Geographic project gives a lyrical glimpse into a beehive and reveals one of the biggest threats to its health, a mite that preys on baby bees in their first 21 days of life. The footage is set to music from Rob Moose and the Magik*Magik Orchestra. (This talk was part of a session at TED2015).
The Facts and Knowledge of BT Corn
A 13-minute video to answer questions about genetically modified BT corn. Understand questions such as Why is it safe to consume BT corn? What is BT (bacillus thuringiensis) and where does it come from? How is BT corn (and other GMO plants) regulated?
The Life of a Seed- Jake, a GMO Seed
The Life of a Seed is a 3-minute video clip which explores the basics of biotechnology. Learn about the history of plant breeding and how genetically modified crops are created.
Virtual Chicken
Watch the virtual animation of the step-by-step process of a hen producing an egg. Students will learn the parts of an egg as it is developed. This is an excellent way for students to gain a greater understanding of egg science.
Virtual Egg Farm Field Trips
Take a virtual tour of three different egg farms. Learn why each farmer chose their career, how their farm manages their ecological footprint and how they conserve natural resources all while raising the laying hens that produce eggs for our food supply.
What is Sustainable Agriculture?
A video series highlighting common practices farmers and ranchers use to improve profitability, qualify of life, and environmental stewardship.
Why Can a Cow Eat Grass? Video
Beef and dairy cattle provide us with hundreds of different products, and all they need is an ample supply of grass and other plants. Most of these plants people can't even eat, so why can cows eat them? This Gee Whiz in Agriculture video provides an in-depth look at the digestive system of cattle, focusing on differences between cattle and humans. Take a journey into a cow’s stomach and microscopically view the stomach contents. Ten-year old “experts” will share their “MOO-ving” experiences with you. This video is available on DVD or
YouTube.
Order this DVD online from agclassroomstore.com.
Why are GMOs Bad?
This video clip provides a brief, but comprehensive introduction to GMOs. The video defines what a GMO is, the history of genetic engineering, how GMOs are created, what traits genetically modified crops exhibit, how traditional plant breeding differs from genetic engineering and how all methods of plant breeding have been used to improve crops through the years.
Poster/Infographic
Compliments of Cattle Poster
Meat isn't the only product that comes from beef cattle. The by-products of beef production are used to make numerous everyday items like lipstick, perfume, paint, crayons, leather balls, and more. This black line coloring sheet depicts cattle using items that come to us “compliments of cattle.” Students can color cattle doing things like playing basketball, repairing cars, and putting on lipstick. As they are coloring, students can check off the list of everyday items that are made from beef cattle by-products. Download the lesson plan "Beef Basics" for great classroom activities and a shopping list to create your own beef by-products kit.
Crop Modification Techniques
To help educate people about the many methods that are used to generate new traits in plants, Biology Fortified has created an infographic on six different crop modification techniques, with examples of crops generated with each method. The webpage has detailed explanations of each modification technique, helpful to both teachers and students to recognize all the ways plants can be selectively bred to obtain desired characteristics.
GMO Infographics
Find numerous infographics teaching fact from fiction about GMOs. These can be used to discuss and dispel common myths, illustrate the timeline of crop breeding and genetic modification, and discuss factors and solutions to agricultural sustainability.
Honey Bee Study Prints
Twelve 13" x 18" color enlargements from Dadant & Sons depict various behavioral characteristics of honey bees and scenes of beekeeping. Instructional material printed on the back of each color photograph tells what can be observed and learned from the picture, asks questions, gives additional information on the subject, and suggests other sources of information.
Meat Cut Fact Cards
Print these black-and-white fact cards to illustrate the wholesale and retail cuts of meat found in beef, lamb, pork, and chicken. Use them as a coloring pages or as pages in an interactive notebook.
Where Does Your Cheeseburger Come From?
Do you know the source of the burger, bun and toppings that make a delicious cheeseburger? This 11" x 17" student poster breaks down the cheeseburger ingredients to help students correlate the farm-to-fork path. These are available to educators free of charge from Minnesota Agriculture in the Classroom.
Who Makes the Best Burger?
This 42" x 25" bulletin board teaches students about the production of the ingredients in hamburgers. A large picture of a hamburger is featured in the middle of the bulletin board and pictures of the ingredients and their descriptions are in each corner. An envelope asking students to vote for "Who makes the best burger?" is included. The envelope can be removed after the voting to display the words "FARMERS and RANCHERS." The bulletin board is mailed in a reusable storage tube.
Order this bulletin board online from agclassroomstore.com.
Food Chemistry Experiments
This free, downloadable 60-page booklet contains seven basic food science experiments designed for middle and high school students. Includes teacher/student activity guides.
Food Safety A to Z Reference Guide
A treasure trove of scientific and comprehensive food safety information in one user-friendly, alphabetical format. Use this guide as a research tool for reinforcing the science concepts in the video, performing the activities and labs, and to further enhance your knowledge of food safety.
Genetically Engineered Crops in the United States Report
Despite the rapid increase in the adoption of genetically engineered (GE) corn, soybean, and cotton varieties by US farmers, questions persist regarding their economic and environmental impacts, the evolution of weed resistance, and consumer acceptance. This report examines issues related to three major stakeholders in agricultural biotechnology: GE seed suppliers and technology providers (biotech firms), farmers, and consumers.
Genetically Modified Food: Good, Bad, Ugly
Review this article to hear multiple perspectives on the issue of GMOs. Why do some fear the technology while others believe it is a solution to many challenges in food production?
Gourmet Lab: The Scientific Principles Behind Your Favorite Foods
Hands-on, inquiry-based, and relevant to every student’s life, Gourmet Lab serves up a full menu of activities for science teachers of grades 6-12. This collection of 15 hands-on experiments, each of which includes a full set of both student and teacher pages, challenges students to take on the role of scientist and chef as they boil, bake, and toast their way to better understanding of science concepts from chemistry, biology, and physics. By cooking edible items such as pancakes and butterscotch, students have the opportunity to learn about physical changes in states of matter, acids and bases, biochemistry, and molecular structure. What better topic than food to engage students to explore science in the natural world?
How Safe is Your Salad?
Learn about the safety system and protocols farmers and farm workers must follow while growing and harvesting lettuce and other leafy greens grown in Arizona. After an E. coli outbreak in 2006 the leafy green industry began approaching food safety in a new way. Learn the steps taken to protect your salad from foodborne illness.
Hungry Planet: What the World Eats
This TIME magazine article highlights the work and photography of Peter Menzel as he traveled the world documenting the food average families throughout the globe consumed in a typical week. Discover how culture, climate, economic status, food costs, and other factors impact the food a family consumes.
Mandarin Oranges: Protecting the Flavor of This Popular Fruit
This article can enrich a lesson on food safety, transportation, food packaging, or food science with a real-life example. Illustrate how food scientists are researching the mandarin orange to protect the flavor of the fruit after it is harvested.
Natural GMO? Sweet Potato Genetically Modified 8,000 Years Ago
Genetically modified crops have specific genes transferred from one genome to another. Typically it is believed that this could not happen naturally without human assistance. However, this article reports on the evidence that the sweet potato has a gene originally found in a bacterium.
Nutrition Research Articles
See a collection of articles reporting the results of various research projects carried out by the United States Department of Agriculture. These articles can help secondary students make connections with topics such as food, nutrition, and overall health.
Website
An Unusual Snack for Cows, a Powerful Fix for Climate
One of the most powerful weapons in the fight against climate change is washing up on shorelines around the world, unnoticed by most beachgoers. It’s seaweed. Specifically, Asparagopsis taxiformis and Asparagopsis armata — two species of a crimson submarine grass that drifts on waves and tides all around the world’s oceans. See how seaweed is being researched as a feed additive to reduce methane production in livestock.
Before the Plate Website
The Before the Plate website contains information about the Before the Plate documentary and videos and explanations for each step of the farm-to-fork process for beef, potatoes, honey, milk, and sunflowers.
Dirt to Dinner
Looking for topics to engage students in critical thinking and argumentation? This site deals in "food matters" highlighting the relationship between producers and consumers using credible resources on the topics of global food production, sustainable agriculture, and nutrition.
Dirt-to-Dinner: Food Matters
The goal of Dirt-to-Dinner (D2D) is to educate the curious consumer on how food travels from the farm to our forks. Verified science is used to answer questions on our global food supply chain, sustainability in agriculture, the integrity of our food, and its nutrition. Information is focused on how and why countries are dependent on each other for a constant food supply, looks for the balance between feeding the world’s population today without compromising the environment or future generations of tomorrow, and examines the integrity of our food.
Eggs in Schools
The Eggs in Schools website has a variety of classroom resources and tools including virtual field trips, activities, games, cooking videos, and lesson plans.
FAOSTAT: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations Statistics Division
FAOSTAT provides free access to food and agriculture data for over 245 countries and territories and covers all FAO regional groupings from 1961 to the most recent year available.
Food Security & Nutrition Around the World
This website contains the full report from the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United States about food security and nutrition around the world. View numerous graphs showing trends over time for hunger, malnutrition, child stunting, and other related impacts of food insecurity.
GMO Answers
GMO Answers is an educational website to answer your questions about GMO's, or Genetically Modified Organisms. You will find infographics, images, videos, posters, and handouts to use as learning tools.
Hungry Planet Family Food Portraits
The Peter Menzel Photography website provides an archive of the photos included in the Hungry Planet book, which depict everything an average family consumes in a week along with the food cost. These portraits provide a glimpse into kitchens from Norway to China to Mexico, raising questions about how culture and environment influence the cost and calories of diets around the world.
Journey 2050
The Journey 2050 website focuses on the year 2050 as a key moment in time when the world's population is estimated to be 9 billion. Answer the question, "How will we sustainably feed 9 billion people by the year 2050?" Find four games and seven videos to learn about sustainable agriculture.
Journey of a Gene
This website engages students in the genetic engineering process in a problem and solution format. The video series describes a plant disease in soybeans and then illustrates the steps in genetic engineering that could be employed to develop seeds that are resistant to the disease.
Labels Unwrapped
The Labels Unwrapped project was launched to address the frustration and confusion caused by food labels. Laws and regulations that govern the labeling of food products are complex and, in some instances, ambiguous. Because everyone eats food every day, the creators of this site wanted to unwrap the law behind the labels on various types of food products and provide an accessible informational resource for anyone who wants to better understand the language and imagery that can both inform and confuse consumers.
MyPlate
MyPlate is the USDA's food guidance symbol that illustrates the five food groups using the familiar image of a place setting for a meal. A wide variety of resources are provided on the associated MyPlate website.
The American Dairy Industry
This online special collections exhibit from the USDA National Agricultural Library includes sections on the early history of the dairy industry, government contributions to dairying, and research in the private sector.
Virtual Food Safety Labs
Food safety and science come together with these virtual labs. Students can see and practice some of the laboratory techniques used by researchers and food scientists. Visit the website to see eight virtual labs including Testing for Corn Mold, Bacteria Sampling, Gram Staining, Using the Microscope, The pH Scale and Meter Calibration, Testing and Adjusting pH, Understanding Water Activity, and Controlling Water Activity in Food.
What's In My Food?
Would you like to learn more about the ingredients in your food? Common questions about our food include: Does it contain GMOs? Does the packaging contain BPA? and What are the ingredients? This website contains detailed information about these topics for common foods such as soups, sauces, juices, pasta, crackers, and cookies.
