Getting your students to take an interest in food isn’t always easy. However, there are lots of fun food facts to share with the class. These facts are fun and might inspire children to spend time in the kitchen.
- John Glenn made history in 1962 by eating applesauce in space, making it the first food to be consumed by astronauts on the Friendship 7 flight.
- Most people believe pistachios are nuts; well, in fact, they’re a type of fruit. The pistachio comes from a shell-covered seed and is often mistaken for a nut.
- Broccoli has a high protein level. Broccoli tends to have more protein than steak. Of course, to consume the same amount of protein, you’d need to eat a lot more broccoli than steak.
- Raspberries belong to the rose family. They come from trees that bear many types of fruits, such as cherries, apples, peaches, pears, and even plums.
- M&Ms get their name from Mars and Murrie, the geniuses behind their invention.
- In 1995, potatoes were planted in space. The idea was to help feed astronauts during prolonged missions in space. Quite ingenious, to say the least.
- On average, cucumbers contain 95% of water. They aren’t, however, the only vegetables to have a high-water content. Others include radishes, celery, zucchini, and asparagus.
- Honey is created when bees regurgitate it. Of course, as disgusting as it sounds, the way bees create honey is quite fascinating.
- Figs are inverted flowers. When their pod blooms, it matures into the fig fruit people consume.
- Kit Kat fillings are made exclusively with the crumbs of other broken Kit Kat bars. Any rejected bars get smashed together to create a wafer paste. Sounds delicious.
- The 11-year-old Frank Epperson invented popsicles by accident.
- Almonds are not nuts but rather seeds. They are the product of the almond fruit.
- Pineapple plants can live for 50 years or more but may take up to 3 years to develop fruit.
- According to the FDA, berries can house 4 larvae. Not something you’d want to know if you’re a berry lover.
- The FDA states that peanut butter is allowed to contain 4 rodent hairs. Yuck – but good to know the next time you’re thinking about buying a jar!
- A dentist was the one to first invent cotton candy. A strange idea for someone who looks after teeth – or ingenious?!
- A strawberry is not a berry, but a banana and watermelon are. Fruits often go through classification, but quite simply, it’s all down to anatomy.
- When the rhubarb buds crack open, you can hear them.
- Glass gem corn kernels resemble beads of glass and have been created this way.
- Fruit salad trees are known as multi-grafted trees as they can grow 6 different fruits at any one time.
- Cashew apples grow cashew nuts.
- Limes sink in water, but lemons don’t. Lemons tend to have better buoyancy than limes.
- Before 1500, carrots were originally yellow and purple.
- Froot loop cereal tastes the same despite having different colors of loops.
- Carrots are often sweeter during winter because they react to the cold.
