Where Food Comes From: Farm to Fork

Nova: Buckle up, Explorers.

Cosmo: Brains in!

Nova: Wheels up!

Nova & Cosmo: Brain Bus, let's GO!

Nova: You're on The Brain Bus!

Nova: I'm Nova - your driver today.

Nova: My robot co-pilot Cosmo is here with us too.

Nova: And today, Explorers, we have a big question.

Nova: A really, really big question.

Nova: Where does our food come from?

Nova: Explorers... chocolate doesn't start in a wrapper.

Nova: Chocolate grows on a TREE!

Nova: It really, truly does.

Nova: Let's go find out how!

Nova: Let's think about food for a minute, Explorers.

Nova: When you're hungry, Mum or Dad gets food from the shop.

Nova: But before it gets to the shop...

Nova: Food has to GROW somewhere first!

Nova: Food grows on farms.

Nova: It comes from animals.

Nova: And some food grows deep, deep underground!

Nova: Let's start with something that grows DOWN in the dirt.

Nova: Carrots!

Nova: Carrots hide underground, in cool, dark soil.

Nova: They drink up water from the dirt.

Nova: They get bigger... and bigger... and bigger.

Nova: When they're ready, a farmer grabs the leafy green top.

Nova: And they PULL!

Nova: Out comes the carrot!

Nova: Can you say "CARROT"?

Nova: Carrot! Growing down in the dirt.

Nova: Potatoes grow underground too.

Nova: And peanuts! Peanuts hide underground, just like carrots.

Nova: All tucked in the dark earth, growing slowly.

Nova: You know, Explorers, a carrot starts as something TINY.

Nova: Smaller than your pinky fingernail.

Nova: That tiny seed goes into the ground.

Nova: It drinks water.

Nova: It soaks up sunshine from way up above.

Nova: And slowly, slowly... it grows into a carrot.

Nova: Just like YOU, Explorers!

Nova: You eat and sleep and grow bigger every single day.

Nova: Just like the carrot. Just like the seed!

Nova: Every single food on your plate started like this.

Nova: As something tiny. As something growing.

Nova: Now let's visit a cow on the farm.

Nova: A cow eats green, green grass all day long.

Nova: She munches and munches and munches.

Nova: And her very clever tummy... turns that grass into MILK!

Nova: Green grass goes in. White milk comes out!

Nova: Isn't that amazing?

Nova: Can you say "COW"?

Nova: Cow! That's where milk comes from.

Nova: Not the shop. The cow!

Nova: And now - the most amazing food of all.

Nova: Are you ready, Explorers?

Nova: Chocolate starts as BEANS on a tree.

Nova: The beans grow inside a big, bumpy fruit.

Nova: People pick the fruit and take the beans out.

Nova: They roast the beans and squish them.

Nova: And slowly... they turn into chocolate!

Nova: Can you say "CHOCOLATE BEANS"?

Nova: Chocolate beans! On a real tree! Wow!

Nova: And have you ever looked really closely at a strawberry?

Nova: A strawberry wears all its tiny seeds on the OUTSIDE.

Nova: Little seeds, dotted all around the outside.

Nova: Like a little red polka-dot jacket!

Nova: Now - where does honey come from?

Nova: From BEES!

Nova: Bees fly from flower to flower.

Nova: They sip sweet juice from each flower.

Nova: They carry it home to their hive.

Nova: And slowly... it turns into honey.

Nova: Can you say "HONEY"?

Nova: Honey! Made by tiny, busy bees.

Nova: In Australia, there are tiny native bees with no sting at all.

Nova: The Yolŋu people - that's said "YOL-ngoo" - of Arnhem Land in northern Australia have gathered their special honey for thousands and thousands of years.

Nova: It is called sugarbag honey.

Nova: And it comes straight from hollow trees.

Nova: How beautiful is that?

Nova: Now, Explorers, I want to share something truly special with you.

Nova: Some very wise people discovered that plants can help each other grow.

Nova: Like the best of friends.

Nova: The Haudenosaunee people - that's said "hoh-dee-noh-SHOW-nee" - they live in North America.

Nova: For many, many generations, they have grown three foods together, side by side.

Nova: They call them the Three Sisters.

Nova: The Three Sisters are corn, beans, and squash.

Nova: The tall corn grows up, up, up toward the sky.

Nova: The bean vine climbs up the corn... like a little ladder.

Nova: And the big squash leaves spread out low on the ground.

Nova: Like a cosy green blanket, keeping the soil cool.

Nova: Three plants. Growing as friends. Helping each other.

Nova: And today, families still grow their Three Sisters together.

Nova: Isn't that beautiful?

Nova: Quiz time, Explorers!

Nova: Three questions. Shout out your answers!

Nova: Question one!

Nova: True or false - milk comes from cows.

Nova: Is that TRUE? Or FALSE?

Nova: TRUE! Milk comes from cows!

Nova: A cow eats green grass all day long.

Nova: Her clever tummy turns it into milk.

Nova: Grass becomes milk! Isn't that incredible?

Nova: Question two!

Nova: True or false - chocolate starts as beans on a tree.

Nova: TRUE? Or FALSE?

Nova: TRUE again!

Nova: Beans on a real tree.

Nova: People roast them and squish them into chocolate.

Nova: That chocolate bar started on a tree. Wow!

Nova: Last question, Explorers!

Nova: Where do carrots grow?

Nova: On a tree... in the river... or under the ground?

Nova: Under the GROUND! Yes!

Nova: Carrots grow down in the cool, dark dirt.

Nova: A farmer pulls them up by their leafy green tops!

Nova: Explorers, every single brain on this Bus was working so hard.

Nova: Every one of you was thinking and trying and wondering.

Nova: I am so proud of every single one of you!

Nova: Time for three super-amazing food facts!

Nova: Ready?

Nova: Fact one - to fill one little jar of honey, bees visit millions of flowers.

Nova: Millions and millions and millions!

Nova: Fact two - a hen lays almost one brand-new egg every single day.

Nova: One new egg. Every. Day!

Nova: Fact three - a pineapple does NOT grow on a tree.

Nova: It grows down LOW, on a short spiky plant.

Nova: And one pineapple takes almost TWO WHOLE YEARS to grow!

Nova: Alright Explorers, it's time for a game!

Nova: This game is called UP HIGH or DOWN LOW.

Nova: I'll say a food. You shout where it grows!

Nova: Grows up high on a tree? Shout UP!

Nova: Grows down low in the dirt? Shout DOWN!

Nova: You can keep your eyes closed - just use your voice!

Nova: Ready?

Nova: APPLE!

Nova: UP! Apples grow up high on a tree!

Nova: CARROT!

Nova: DOWN! Carrots grow down in the dirt!

Nova: BANANA!

Nova: UP! Bananas grow pointing up at the sky!

Nova: Now this one is tricky. Are you ready?

Nova: PINEAPPLE!

Nova: DOWN! Pineapples grow down low on a spiky plant!

Nova: Sneaky pineapple!

Nova: Now - here is your wondering question.

Nova: What is YOUR favourite food?

Nova: Do you think it grows up high... or down low?

Nova: Ask someone else in the car - what do THEY think?

Nova: Explorers... let's be very still for just a moment.

Nova: All of our food starts somewhere.

Nova: A tiny seed goes into the ground.

Nova: A cow munches on green grass.

Nova: A busy little bee visits a flower.

Nova: And then that food travels all the way... to your plate.

Nova: The shop doesn't make our food.

Nova: Plants and animals and farmers do.

Nova: The shop just keeps it safe... until we come to get it.

Nova: Every meal your little one has ever eaten began as sunlight touching a leaf - and the earth, quietly and perfectly, did the rest.

Nova: Next time on The Brain Bus, Explorers...

Nova: We are going to follow something very, very tiny.

Nova: Something so tiny it fits in your hand.

Nova: But this tiny thing can grow into something bigger than your house!

Nova: I wonder... what could it be?

Nova: Stay curious, stay clever, and keep that brain working!

Nova: Until the next stop, Explorers...

Cosmo: ...keep wondering.