In this light-hearted non-fiction introduction to how food is cultivated and processed, children discover how bread and cheese are made, how tomatoes and carrots are grown, how juice gets into a juice box and chocolate chips get into a cookie – and much more. Engaging illustrations show all the people involved in getting food into the lunchbox – from the tractor driver to the to the dairy farmer to the baker to the food processor and many others. The program includes a Food Facts section that explains the basic food groups and provides tips for healthful eating.

Includes A Conversation With the Author.

Reviews

Many children have no idea how the food they eat gets to their local grocery store. This charming iconographic adaptation of Chris Butterworth’s book (2011) traces the path of common foods from their origins through harvesting, production, and distribution. Aided by Lucia Gaggiotti’s stylish, cartoon-like drawings, the program traces the ingredients of bread, cheese, apple juice, and chocolate chips, and also highlights the path of cherry tomatoes, carrots, and clementine’s to retail markets. The cheerful and informative presentation includes a “Food Facts” segment that explains dietary guidelines and suggested daily portions of vegetables, fruits, carbohydrate grains, protein, and dairy. To conclude, Butterworth comments on why she enjoys writing factual books with Gaggiotti’s illustrations backing up her remarks. This appealing production offering valuable food and dietary information is a good way to jump-start a unit on food and nutrition.
Booklist Online, January 2012

Chris Butterworth’s 2011 picture book breaks down a typical lunch that children take to school into several ingredients, and shows where each came from, how it got to the lunchbox, and how many people worked to put it there. With peppy music and expressive narration, each food item – bread, cheese, the chocolate chip in a cookie, apple juice, carrots, and tomatoes – are followed from the farm to the table, with each step simply explained and illustrated. Lucia Gaggiotti’s bright and cheerful artwork follows each process in linear fashion, with arrows connecting the steps. An introduction to the federal government’s new MyPlate Dietary Guidelines and Food Facts follows the story to help children make healthy food and exercise choices. There’s also a conversation with the author, accompanied by images from the book. A fun way to help children appreciate the work that goes into producing food and understand how healthy food contributes to their growth.
School Library Journal, February 2012.

This iconographic animated adaptation of the 2011 picture book written by Chris Butterworth and illustrated by Lucia Gaggiotti offers a general introduction to a few different food sources. The bread in one’s lunchbox sandwich, for example, comes from the flour ground from wheat; the tomatoes ripen from green to orange to red before being plucked; and the apple is picked from an orchard. DVD extras include a brief interview with Butterworth, who talks about how she became a children’s author.
Video Librarian, March/April 2012.