As a child, did you ever try to eat dirt or sand? Pica is the name for eating nonedible things, and while it’s normal for a curious child to try dirt once or twice, it becomes a much odder—and potentially dangerous—practice as people get...

Imagine being a contestant on Cupcake Wars or Iron Chef America. The frenzied audience cheers for you and your cooking skills wow the judges. You win prizes and money, and you just might land your own cooking show. Well—this outcome might happen for a few lucky ones, but most contestants go...

What plant is a fruit, but is seen as a vegetable? What plant can be sweet or spicy hot? What plant scares elephants away? The answer is...

One hundred years ago, oranges and bananas were considered rare, novelty foods because they had to be shipped from faraway locales. Today, they’re commonplace, but there are plenty...

Have you ever been to the supermarket right before a big storm? Chances are, people have raided the shelves. No more milk, no more bread. We tend to take food for granted until there isn’t any. But, where does our food come from and how does it get to us?   Fun...

Ancient people, as well as indigenous people in many parts of the world today, didn’t have grocery stores to buy their food from. Nor did they have gardens or farms. Instead, they foraged for food, searching for nuts, roots, berries, and edible

Imagine it’s late summer. The kitchen feels warm and humid. The air smells sweet. Jars of beautifully preserved peaches sit cooling on a dish towel on the kitchen counter. This is what home canning is all about.   Fun...

Remember Charlotte’s Web? Fern and her brother seemed to have an ideal life. They spent their summers outdoors, playing with the farmyard pets and swimming in the pond. These activities are part of life for many children living on farms—but there’s much more to being a farming...

Thousands of years ago, early people moved from place to place in search of food. They ate what they could find, including roots, nuts, and berries. Later, people living in places with rich soil and water, such as

No one knows exactly when the first recipes were created, but the idea of preparing foods for good flavor probably took hold after people began growing crops and keeping livestock. Before that, hunting and scavenging for food probably took so much time and energy that people gave little thought...

If you’ve ever had food poisoning, you know that it’s miserable. Food poisoning is caused by eating food that contains bacteria. This bacteria can make you really sick. But did you know that some foods contain...

Thousands of years ago, people ate whatever they could find—roots, nuts, berries, or meat. Today, we can instantly find a huge variety of foods in the supermarket and we can afford to be more choosey. But what should we eat? How do we know which foods are most healthy?   Fun...