How Did That Get In My Lunchbox?: The Story of Food

Exploring the Everyday

by Chris Butterworth, Lucia Gaggiotti (Illustrator)

Fresh retro artwork lures little readers on a tasty trip to farms, dairies, and more. Yum!

The best part of a young child’s day is often opening a lunchbox and diving in. But how did all that delicious food get there? Who made the bread for the sandwich? What about the cheese inside? Who plucked the fruit? And where did the chocolate in that cookie get its start? From planting wheat to mixing flour into dough, climbing trees to machine-squeezing fruit, picking cocoa pods to stirring a vat of melted bliss, here is a clear, engaging look at the steps involved in producing some common foods. Healthy tips and a peek at basic food groups complete the menu.
Back matter includes an index.

Genres: Picture Books, Nonfiction, Food, Childrens, Science, Nutrition, Health

32 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2011

About the author

CHRIS BUTTERWORTH is the author of more than seventy nonfiction books for children on such diverse subjects as influenza, Antarctic exploration, and Ancient Egypt. "A sea horse looks as magical as a mermaid," she says, "but sea horses really exist. We need to know as much as we can about them, so we can protect them."

Reviews

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm torn about this book! I really like the idea of helping children and students understand where their food comes from. The colors and explanations are vibrant and fun! How Did That Get in My Lunchbox, however, makes it seem so nice and honest. This book, for example, describes how REAL cheese is made and how REAL carrots are grown. So much cheese, especially the kinds served at school, is processed. And baby carrots are not quite the same as real carrots, are they now. If you are making a big effort to eat local, this book is a great way to teach your kid about what you're putting in the lunchbox. If you are like many Americans, this book is missing the mark on where our food really comes from.

[Erin Reilly-Sanders · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm a big fan of not neglecting food and nutrition issues with kids (and, well, everybody) and so I was excited to see a book that tried to unpack some of what's in a lunchbox. The art is pretty unique and engaging with bright colors and bold shapes on mostly white backgrounds. I like that the foods are slightly stylized with textures and no outlines, as things can look pretty tasty without looking necessarily unrealistic. The kids portrayed are generally multicultural but the default for farmers and workers seems to be white European Americans with the exception of the chocolate harvesters and the orange pickers and an occasional worker--I thought the illustrator could have done a slightly better job. There are lots of diagrams of how each elements of the lunch is processed which are great. My biggest disappointment is that some of the aspects of sustainability that to me are a crucial part of the equation are left out. For example, the tomato page says that the tomatoes are picked red (which is actually incorrect) and appear to be driven to a neighborhood store in some sort of cart rather than from Florida or California in refrigerated trucks. I also believe that the social element to these foods is also important. While there may not be room to mention it in such a simple book, I probably would have left out tomatoes entirely simply for the reason that tomato pickers aren't treated well (yet another reason to never by fresh grocery store tomatoes again). Not to get on a soap box, but I kind of want more of the whole story, especially since some aspects are so well presented.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great for a beginning look at where food comes from, besides the grocery store. The writing is clear and basic but uses proper terminology. The healthy facts at the end are simple, and easy to understand.Nice illustrations adn end papers. Good for 3-7 year olds, great for a preschool, or kindergarten lesson.

My only quibble is it does not talk about meat at all. I can see that it would be hard to include this in the bright colored up beat context of this book but Americans eat meat often and if the point of this book is to show you where food comes from then they should show meat is an animal. This is not in a political critique; I eat meat, but more of a factual critique.

[Jen Traub · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really liked the premise- where does our food actually come from? But I thought the information he presented wasn't entirely true. He paints a picture of food made my individual hands, when our food industry is nothing like that. It's all factories and preservatives that innocent picture of the baker in the baker's hat is incredibly outdated and at this point, mostly false.
There are, of course, exceptions... But the exception is not the majority.

[Rebekah · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book didn't go where I expected. I thought this would be standard "where does food come from" material aimed at children that would have, say, a baker in a toque kneading bread for sandwiches, whereas this book shows wheat ground into flour and baked in large industrial ovens. It's not a bad start for an honest discussion about food sources and nutrition. Nicely illustrated.

[Eloise Willow · Rating 5 out of 5]

I like the food like the cheese and the corn and the strawberries and the milk and the tomatoes and the carrots, eggs, mushrooms, bread, pineapple, pizza, banana. That’s all. And apple.

[Kirsty · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting read to lead to some interesting discussions

[briz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Main takeaways:
- Farms.
- Chocolate is onerous indeed. Now I feel guilty eating chocolate. Someone once tweeted that so much human suffering has been undergone so rich British people could have a "nice breakfast" (sugar cane plantations, coffee and tea plantations, colonialism, imperialism, etc). Chocolate really takes a lot of steps.
- You know what's missing, and what we all noticed - parents and kids - MEAT? That conversation was left up to ME to describe. Thanks a lot, book.

kid: how are fish made even?
me: uh well ok, the book is not showing you because it's sort of sad and scary, but fish and meat are things that we kill to eat.
kid: [loving it] O RLY? HOW DO WE KILL THEM?
me: uh
kid: HOW?
me: uh well i'm actually not sure, i think we pull fish out of the water and they suffocate? ...
kid: O RLY [popcorn emoji] WHAT ELSE
me: uh and for cows i think we make them bleed until they die?
kid: OH WOW

I don't even know. I mean, I'm not going to go into the dystopian nightmare hellscape that is industrial meat production. But even virtuous pastoral meat production, I'm shaky on. They behead chickens, right?

[Lauran Ferguson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think this is a great book to read to a child. It would definitely make them more excited to eat healthier, and it will help them to understand how people make the food that we eat. This book explains the processes of making all sorts of foods such as bread, cheese, chocolate chips, and so much more. The pictures are very colorful and help to bring life to the book.

[Fjóla · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good concept, although the book ends up being not terribly exciting. This is a good beginner book on food/nutrition and could probably be a discussion starter. My five year didn't really learn anything new here, but if this is your first book on the subject you might.

[❀angela · Rating 4 out of 5]

great illustrations and very informative for children.

[Bmack · Rating 3 out of 5]

This books tells how the different things in your lunch box are grown or made by people working.

[Nicole · Rating 5 out of 5]

awards: American Farm Bureau Foundation for Agriculture Book of the Year

grade level: second grade

summary: This story takes readers through the production of common foods that they see every day. It includes vibrant illustrations and child-friendly language.

review: This book is a great addition to any classroom library. It’s important for everyone to understand the production of the food they’re eating, and it’s a great idea to open children up to this topic at a young age. This book uses easy language for children to understand in order to learn and stay engaged.

classroom uses: After reading this book, I would have children move through stations that involve multiple education topics. For math, they would sort and count different fruits and vegetables. For science, we would have a decomposition shelf for children to observe for a few weeks. For reading/writing, they would draw and write about their favorite foods and share with classmates.

[Musiclib · Rating 4 out of 5]

This title does a great job of showing youngsters what the farm to table procress is for a typical American lunch (sandwich, veggies, fruit, cookies, and juice).

The author notes not only the processes (the harvesting of the wheat, the milling, the baking, etc.) but also the human contribution (i.e. the people who pick the apples, cocoa beans for the chocolate chips, manipulate the products that become the cheese, etc.)

The illustrations are colorful and large, which helps with the sometimes infographic-style depiction of how foods develop from their point of origin to what's in the lunchbox. (Although there are a couple that might be a bit difficult for younger readers to follow).

The last few pages include information about how a plate is recommended to be divided (i.e carbs, fruits/veggies, protein, etc.) and a bit more about overall health. It does seem a bit out of place after a first read.

Use this in the science classroom with Kindergarten to 1st graders!

[Jenna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kirja siitä, kuinka eväsrasian sisältö on tuotettu. Kyseinen eväsrasia on selvästi koottu Amerikassa tai Englannissa, mutta aikuinen lukija varmasti pääsee tästä yli (pienellä sivuhuomautuksella rasian sisällön terveellisyydestä). Kovin seikkaperäisesti tuotantoa ei selitetä, mutta pääpiirteet maalaillaan välillä hieman ruusunpunaisella siveltimellä. Kuvitus on hauskaa, leikkimielistä ja minusta kovin inspiroivaa.
Vegaanin huomautus: Kirjassa ei mainita, että maidontuotanto on mahdollista vain että vasikat vieroitetaan lehmistä ja vasikoille tarkoitettu maito tuotetaan todellisuudessa kuluttajille. Myös viimeisen aukeaman ruokaympyrä tuputtaa valtaväestön näkemystä maitotuotteiden tarpeellisuudesta "luustonkasvattajana" ja proteiiniosasto ympyrässä sisältää varsin vähän kasviproteiinivaihtoehtoja.

[Jenny · Rating 4 out of 5]

The farther removed our children get from farming, the more they need books like these. Very simply (and with fun illustrations), Butterworth shows how different foods get to a child's lunchbox. Bread, cheese, tomatoes, carrots, clementines, and chocolate chip cookies are covered (he carefully avoids meat, which is a strategic choice given how differently families handle that issue with young children).

There's nothing particularly groundbreaking about the book, but it's important information that many children don't know because they are so separated from the natural world. I'll use it in our health class for next year as a discussion-starter.

[Casey Elekes · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a well made informational book for young children. It takes any basic lunch that a child would have packed for school, and breaks them down into where each part came from. For example it took the sandwich and showed how the bread is made, and then took the apple juice to show where it came from. At the end of the book it shows you a food chart with how much of each section you should eat within a day, giving great illustrations as examples of these. There were also food facts at the back of the book just for fun.

[Cathy Sheetz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Going through the basic components of a kids lunch, the book explains through pictures and words how the food starts as a plant or bud, grows, is harvested and sometimes processed until it ends up at a store and then in the kid's lunch. There is also a section on healthy eating and what to include in a healthy diet.

This book works well with a unit on health and nutrition at a 2nd through 4th grade level. Could also be used as a mentor text for writing an informational text for 2nd through 5th grade. Could be in a classroom library for K - 5th grade.

[Neil Pasricha · Rating 4 out of 5]

I feel like the nature of awe is so much better represented in kid’s books today than when I grew up with books like You Are Stardust helping give children existential crises at younger and younger ages. This book takes a child’s lunch and works backwards up the supply chain to show how every ingredient got there. I loved everything about the book except the fact they did a big toestep around any mention of meat. I have a sequel idea, though. It’s called: “What’s really in that Summer Sausage?”

[Helena · Rating 3 out of 5]

Söpö ja napakan pituinen kirja niille pienimmille siitä, mistä ruoka tulee. Tässä ollaan jonkun jenkkiläisen(?) koulueväslaatikon äärellä, mutta leipominen, juustonteko ja kasvihuoneet ovat ihan pätevää kamaa paikasta riippumatta. Kuvat ovat valoisia ja värikkäitä, ja muutenkin meno on aika siirappista. Mutta ehkä tällainen ihan pienten tietokirja ei ole oikea paikka ruoantuotannon ongelmien puimiseen. Lukekoon Nakki lautasella vähän vanhempina.

[Mrs. Ruigrok · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a great book to find out about the items in your lunchbox and where they've come from. Not the store...but how they started and the process they go through to become what you are eating. The illustrations are colorful and the book has just the right amount of information for children to understand.

[Carlie Raybuck · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great for introducing where your food comes from. It has a lot of vocabulary that is used in different farms or factories. It takes any basic lunch a child may have and describes where they came from. I think students will learn a little bit from this book. But, I also think there is a lot of things this book is not telling you about different other kinds of food that a lot of kinds eat.

[Jessica · Rating 1 out of 5]

It glosses over the horrors of the dairy industry and, of course, doesn't tell children how meat ends up in their lunchboxes.

It also shows only meats in the proteins section on a plate. How about tofu? nuts? leafy greens? Those are great sources of protein too! The world doesn't need more nonsensical "informational" texts.

[Liz · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is a good start of young kids understanding that the grocery store doesn't magically produce food (or, for modern kids, Star Trek 'replicators' aren't real) and a good base for exploring more food production complications later.

[Kristina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting premise and a good primer for kids. Deducted a star (would have given 4 stars) for pushing dairy as a category that should be on the plate. Such outdated thinking and propaganda that has been debunked and should not be pushed into kids any longer.

[Mandy Robek · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think there are certain readers who will gobble this behind the scenes book - electricity, water, natural gas, are all explained making me want to do more at my end to save energy.

[Alyson (Kid Lit Frenzy) · Rating 4 out of 5]

young kids do not have a clear idea where food comes from. this takes a look from the perspective of their lunchbox.

[Becca · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really awesome book on where good comes from. Good length. Enough detail to still be interesting for older kids, but also concise enough that my three year old say through it

[adeservingporcupine · Rating 2 out of 5]

A good book to teach about bias in children’s books. Cause oh boy, is there some bias.

[Samuel · Rating 5 out of 5]

The process is a bit complicated for a 3-year old, but Samuel liked it.