PARKER, Colo. — The Wheat Foods Council is launching How Wheat Works, an interactive, online multimedia program that delivers a farm-to-fork education on wheat, enabling a better understanding of its nutritional value.
At www.howwheatworks.com, participants of all ages can virtually grow, harvest and mill their own kernels to create their desired wheat food.
For each participant, the council will donate 2 pounds of flour, up to 90,000 pounds, to Operation Homefront, a nonprofit that provides assistance to needy U.S. troops and their families.
About the project
The project combines 3-D animation, still photography, video and factual information to chronicle wheat’s path from field to table.
Each of the program’s four phases — growth, harvest, milling/baking and the grocer’s aisle — takes just a few minutes to complete, while the program spans the course of four days.
Interactive opportunities include the selection of the type of wheat to be grown and wheat flour to be milled, based on the participant’s preferred wheat food creation.
More learning
Following the completion of each phase, activity suggestions allow participants to extend their learning experience through preparing wheat-based recipes, exploring wheat grown in their area and viewing harvest videos from “America’s Heartland,” a magazine-style television series focused on American agriculture.
A quiz tests the participant’s wheat knowledge at program end, at which time the Council donates 2 pounds of flour to Operation Homefront with help from their members at ADM and ConAgra, two of the world’s largest millers.
To extend the program to youth organizations and classrooms, the council developed educational guides, located at www.wheatfoods.org, that allow group leaders and educators to activate How Wheat Works with their audiences.
Activity ideas utilize program content and resources from the council’s extensive library as well as member and partner materials.
