Surprising SlicesToday, each American eats 23 pounds of pizza a year (46 slices). As a nation, that means we eat 100 acres of pizza per day

an acre is the size of a football field). That’s 350 slices per second! How many pounds of pizza does your class eat each year?

The average American family eats pizza at home 30 times a year.

Total frozen pizza sales exceed 2 billion dollars each year---how much do the

families of your classmates spend on pizza each week?

Americans spend over 36 billion dollars at pizza restaurants each year.

More pizza is consumed in the United States on Super Bowl Sunday than any other day of the year. New Year’s Eve is second and Halloween is third.

October is National Pizza Month.

Pizza crust is made from wheat. Farmers plant tiny wheat kernels in the ground using a drill. Wheat looks

like fresh new grass when it comes out of the soil. It grows to about 24 inches high. The farmer harvests the wheat and hauls it in trucks or wagons to the grain elevator. From there it is exported or sold to various industries which make feed or food. Wheat passes through quite a process to become flour for pizza dough. After the wheat is shipped to a mill, it is cleaned to remove weeds, stems and other plant material. Then rollers press the kernels to break them into pieces. Finally, the small wheat pieces are shaken onto screens to sift out the bran and germ not used in wheat flour.

Most pizza crusts are made from hard red spring wheat or hard red winter wheat grown in the central region of the United States. Here in Illinois we grow soft red winter wheat. Illinois wheat has less protein than other types of wheat used to make pizza crusts. However, Illinois wheat flour can be blended with higher protein wheat flour for use in thin crust pizza.

Wheat flour is mixed with yeast, oil, sugar, salt and water to make pizza dough. Yeast makes pizza dough rise. It is a living organism and a fungus related to mushrooms. Today, commercial yeast is grown on beet and cane molasses sugar.

Wheat from planting to harvest:

8-10 months

Pigsfrom birth to processing:

6 months

Dairy cows from birth to milk production:

2-3 years

Beef cattle from birth to processing:

14-16 months

Get a Rise Out of YeastWhen warm water is added to yeast, it activates enzymes in the dough that convert starch into sugar. Carbon dioxide gas is created and the gas bubbles cause the dough to rise. The gas bubbles remain trapped in the bread and give it a light, airy texture. Try this experiment to see yeast in action: 1. Mix a teaspoonful of sugar and a half teaspoon of yeast in

a two-liter pop bottle. Add two or three inches of water and shake the mixture.

2. Stretch a balloon over the top of the bottle. What happened? What might happen to the balloon in the next 30 minutes?

Would the yeast work faster if you used hot water, cool water, or more sugar?

Pizza in just 30 minutes?Next time you order a pizza, think about how long it really took to make!

Vegetablesfrom planting to processing:

3-6 monthsdepending on vegetable type

After production and processing, pizza toppings must be transported to pizza parlors, stores and restaurants. Without truck, rail, barge and air transportation, these goods would not make it onto your pizza. So how long does it take to make a pizza? More than 30 minutes!

PeppersThere are many varieties of garden peppers, but the large-fruited sweet pepper is the favorite of most Americans and a popular pizza topping. Peppers grow on small bushy plants. They are usually eaten in their immature green stage, but they are also delicious after they have fully ripened and turned red or yellow.

TomatoesPizza sauce is made from tomatoes. Tomato plants take 75 to 85 days to produce ripe fruit. The seeds are usually started indoors and then transplanted outdoors after the seedlings are four to six weeks old. In gardens or greenhouses, the plants are supported with stakes to keep them from falling to the moist ground. When tomatoes are ripe, they are carefully packed into boxes and sent to grocery stores. Some tomatoes are sent to canneries where they are processed for sauces or ketchup. Special herbs such as oregano, dill and garlic are added to tomatoes used in pizza sauce to give it a special taste.

Pepperoni and SausagePepperoni and sausage are meats made from pigs. Many Illinois farmers raise pigs. The animals are fed a special blend of ground corn, soybeans, vitamins and minerals. The pigs go to market in five to six months when they weigh 240-250 pounds. The meat from pigs is called pork. It is ground up and special seasonings are added to make sausage, salami, hot dogs, bacon and pepperoni.

OnionsThere are about 1,100 onion farms in the United States. Seventy of them can be found in Illinois, on 400 acres of ground. Onions bulbs are raised either from seed or “sets.” Onion bulbs grow underground and have long green tops. After they are picked and cleaned, they are either sold at grocery stores or sent to processing plants. At processing plants they are diced or processed to be put into foods such as spaghetti, barbecue sauce and pizza. Each of us eats about 19 pounds of onions a year.

MushroomsThere are close to 2,500 types of mushrooms throughout the world. There are about 275 commercial mushroom growers in the United States. Mushrooms grow in cool, dark places. They lack chlorophyll, the green substance used by plants to make food, so they survive by soaking up nutrients from organic matter in the soil.

CheeseCheese is made from milk that comes from dairy cows. Illinois companies produce more than 102 million pounds of cheese each year. Kraft Foods, a major cheese producer, is located in Northfield, Illinois. Cheddar is the most popular cheese, followed by mozzarella, commonly used on pizza. We all have our favorite pizza toppings, but chances are everyone likes cheese!

4000 BC – Egyptians began making bread with yeast.

425 BC – Egyptians traditionally celebrated the Pharaoh’s birthday with flat breadseasoned with herbs.

79 AD – The first signs of pizza-making were found in Pompeii, Italy, which was destroyed by the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius. Marble slabs and other tools of the trade resembling a modern day pizzeria were found in some of its shops.

600 AD – Originally, mozzarella cheese was made from the milk of water buffalo. Today, pizzerias in Naples, Italy still make it this way!

1522 – Tomatoes were introduced to Europe when they were brought back from the New World (Peru). There, they were added to yeast dough to make the first pizza as we know it today.

To learn more about Agriculture, visit us at www.agintheclassroom.org, or contact your county Farm Bureau® office or Agriculture in the Classroom, Illinois Farm Bureau®, 1701 Towanda Avenue, Bloomington, IL 61701.

Illinois Learning Standards: 1.B.2a; 1.B.2d; 2.B.2a; 6.B.2; 6.C.2b; 10.A.2a; 10.B.2b; 10.B.2d; 11.A2d; 11.A.2e; 12.A.2a; 12.B.2a; 13.B.2c; 15.C.2c; 16.A.2c; 16.C.2a; 16.C.2b; 17.C.2b; 17.C.2c; 17.D.2a Illinois Assessment Framework: 1.4.09; 6.4.03; 6.4.07; 6.4.08; 6.4.12; 6.4.13; 10.4.01; 10.4.02; 11.4.02; 11.4.03; 11.4.04; 12.4.03; 12.4.07; 13.4.11)

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Late 19th Century – Italian immigrants brought pizza to America. In Chicago, a peddler walked up and down Taylor Street (in the South Side’s Italian Village) carrying a metal washtub of pizzas on his head. He charged two cents per chew. (This was how pizza was sold in Naples.) Charcoal from the pizza ovens was used in the bottom of the tubs to keep the pies warm and boys were hired to help carry and sell them.

1943 – The first deep-dish pizza was made by Ike Sewell at his Chicago restaurant, “Pizzeria Uno.” Also known as “Chicago-style,” this pizza has a flaky crust and rises an inch or more around deep piles of toppings.

1945 – While stationed in Italy during World War II (1941-1945), American soldiers fell in love with pizza. When they returned from the war, they still craved it, so the popularity of pizza in America grew.

17th Century – Naples, Italy was the place to go for good pizza. It was made by peasant men, known as “pizzaiuolo.” To this day, Naples is known as the “Pizza Capital of the World.”

1889 – While visiting Naples, Umberto I, King of Italy, and his wife, Queen Margherita, had the famous pizza-maker, Raffaele Esposito, prepare them his dish. He topped it with mozzarella, basil and tomatoes to represent the colors of the Italian flag (red, green, and white). The Queen loved this pizza so much that Esposito named it “Pizza Margherita,” a name we still call it today.

To learn more about Agriculture, visit us at www.agintheclassroom.org, or contact your county Farm Bureau® office or Agriculture in the Classroom, Illinois Farm Bureau®, 1701 Towanda Avenue, Bloomington, IL 61701.

Illinois Learning Standards: 1.B.2a; 1.B.2d; 2.B.2a; 6.B.2; 6.C.2b; 10.A.2a; 10.B.2b; 10.B.2d; 11.A2d; 11.A.2e; 12.A.2a; 12.B.2a; 13.B.2c; 15.C.2c; 16.A.2c; 16.C.2a; 16.C.2b; 17.C.2b; 17.C.2c; 17.D.2a Illinois Assessment Framework: 1.4.09; 6.4.03; 6.4.07; 6.4.08; 6.4.12; 6.4.13; 10.4.01; 10.4.02; 11.4.02; 11.4.03; 11.4.04; 12.4.03; 12.4.07; 13.4.11)

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more than four billion fresh and one billion frozen pizzas in this year.

1948 – The first commercial pizza-pie mix was produced in Worchester, Massachusetts by Frank A. Fiorello.

2004 – Americans bought

To learn more about Agriculture, visit us at www.agintheclassroom.org, or contact your county Farm Bureau® office or Agriculture in the Classroom, Illinois Farm Bureau®, 1701 Towanda Avenue, Bloomington, IL 61701.

Illinois Learning Standards: 1.B.2a; 1.B.2d; 2.B.2a; 6.B.2; 6.C.2b; 10.A.2a; 10.B.2b; 10.B.2d; 11.A2d; 11.A.2e; 12.A.2a; 12.B.2a; 13.B.2c; 15.C.2c; 16.A.2c; 16.C.2a; 16.C.2b; 17.C.2b; 17.C.2c; 17.D.2a Illinois Assessment Framework: 1.4.09; 6.4.03; 6.4.07; 6.4.08; 6.4.12; 6.4.13; 10.4.01; 10.4.02; 11.4.02; 11.4.03; 11.4.04; 12.4.03; 12.4.07; 13.4.11)

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• Pizza sales total more than $20 billion dollars a year. What does your family spend on pizza in a week?

$_____________

• Most Americans prefer pepperoni on their pizzas. Oddly, tuna is a popular topping in Europe. Survey your class to see who prefers what toppings. Make a graph to chart the results.

Fabulous Fractions1. Draw a round pizza crust.

2. Use a ruler to divide the pizza into two halves.

3. Next, divide the pizza into four fourths.

4. Finally, divide the pizza into eight eighths so each slice is one-eighth of the whole pizza.

5. How many pizzas would you need to give everyone in your class one slice of pizza? _______________

6. How many pizzas would you need to give everyone in your class two slices of pizza?

_____________________________

Pizza Puzzlers

A Slice of LifeKen RoppRopp Jersey CheeseNormal, Illinois

Describe your farming operation.Ropp Farms is a 6th generation family dairy farm in Central Illinois. We have traditionally grown corn, soybeans, alfalfa hay and corn silage for our own dairy use as well as to sell as commodities. We milk about 60 Jersey dairy cows, which is a small herd size for most of the dairy farms in the industry these days. This is why we decided a few years ago to start processing our own products and marketing them locally to capture more value in the product we were creating.

What is the history of Ropp Jersey Cheese?For 10+ years the Ropp Family has dreamed of starting an on-farm cheese processing facility and retail store. The Ropp Family also enjoys sharing their knowledge and farm heritage to not only educate the public but also promote agriculture. Because of this desire, and to add value to our milk product through a cheese processing facility, the idea for Ropp Jersey Cheese was formed. We now provide over 80 different types of cheeses to grocery stores, restaurants, wineries and other specialty stores throughout central Illinois.

Explain how milk from dairy cows is processed into cheese.Cows are milked twice a day on our farm. This milk is transferred through a pipeline to the pasteurizer in the cheese processing plant. The pasteurizer heats the milk to ensure its safety for human consumption. The cheese processing then consists of setting the milk with cultures and rennet to set up like a big bowl of pudding. Then the set milk is “harped” to separate curds from whey. Most of the rest of the process is draining the whey to utilize the curds which are milled (separated into pieces), salted, flavored (depending on type), aged for months to years (depending on type) and sliced for consumption.

Why Jersey cheese?At Ropp Farms we raise only registered Jersey cows. Jerseys are a breed of cow that have a beautiful smaller frame, are butterscotch in color, and produce much creamier milk. This rich milk is due to a consistently higher protein and calcium content produced specifically by Jersey cows.

Chris Burgener Burgener Pork, Inc.Moweaqua, Illinoi

What type of operation do you have? My three brothers and I have a 700 sow, farrow to finish operation. This means that we have 700 sows that we raise to produce baby pigs, called piglets, and we feed these piglets until they reach 280 pounds or six months of age. We then sell them to market where they can be used for sausage, ham, pepperoni and other pork products.

What is a typical day like on your farm?My typical day starts with feeding the sows. Then I go through the farrowing buildings, where the piglets are born. I check on all the sows that are having babies and check to make sure all the babies are getting proper nutrition from their mother. Next, I go to the breeding room and breed any sow or gilt that is ready to be bred. After lunch, I process the piglets that are three days old. Some days I move sows to different rooms, depending on their stage. Other days, I vaccinate sows or wean piglets from their mother. To end the day, I go through gestation and breeding barns to make sure they have water. I also make sure all feed boxes are ready for morning chores.

How did you become a pork producer? My father started the business in the early 1970’s raising hogs, cattle, corn and soybeans. From the time I was little, I was helping with daily chores and learning how to raise hogs. After I graduated high school, I went to college where I majored in Agricultural Production. I then came back to the family farm and began working with the hogs and have done it ever since.

What are some of the challenges of being a pork producer? The biggest challenge on our farm is staying “antibiotic-free,” which means that we do not feed or inject our hogs with any antibiotics. There are many diseases that face the Pork Industry that can be devastating to production and the health of the animal. We are currently disease-free because of our biosecurity program. It is important for us to maintain this status to prevent any diseases from coming into our herd.

Matt KleinKlein’s Quality ProduceBurlington, Illinois

Describe your farm and garden market. On our farm we raise many different vegetables from asparagus to zucchini. We start from seed and raise and take care of the plants until it is time to harvest. We carefully pick only the best vegetables, wash them and take them to our two stands everyday. We also raise flowers in the spring that you can plant in your garden or around your house. These take months to grow from seed. We start our flowers in the greenhouse in February!

How do you produce your tomatoes? We first start them from seed in the greenhouse around the first of April. It takes about three weeks before the seedlings are planted into 3 inch pots and grown for another 4 weeks until they are big enough (and the weather is warm enough!) to transplant out in the field. Before we transplant in the field, we lay rows of three foot wide black plastic six feet apart up and down the field. The reason for the black plastic is that it warms the soil and holds in the moisture. The tomato plants respond very well when we plant them in this warm, moist soil. Nearly two and a half months of growing are required for the plants and the fruit to mature and be ready to eat.

How are your tomatoes harvested? Tomatoes bruise very easily, so they have to be handled very gently. Ours are harvested by hand. Tomatoes are especially fragile when they are ripe (the way we like to pick them). A tomato picked red ripe will always taste better than one picked green or “breaking color,” which is almost ripe, then allowed to turn red on the shelf. This is because the longer you leave a tomato on the plant, the more natural sugars and nutrients the plant can put into that fruit. We harvest in wooden crates that have lots of openings in the sides to allow for natural cooling before taking to the packing shed. The tomatoes are carefully placed in cardboard boxes two layers deep to avoid bruising.

What special care do tomatoes require? The plants need to be protected from cold temperatures. They are tough plants above 32º but temperatures below that can kill the entire plant and ruin the fruit. In the home garden you can put a stake or wire cage by the plant so it will grow off the ground which makes for easier harvest and helps the tomato fruit avoid contact with the soil, which can cause rotting. Tomatoes require little fertilizer to grow and produce fruit. Fertilizer encourages growth of leaves and stems and can sometimes result in fewer tomatoes! Harvested tomatoes should be kept between 50-65º. Never put tomatoes in the refrigerator. Their taste and quality will decline if stored too cool. Check your plants everyday for signs of insect feeding, tiny eggs on the leaves which could be harmful or beneficial insects, or spots on the leaves which could be diseases. It is important to know the difference between things that will harm the plant and harmless ones.

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