6 Breakfast Foods and Where They Began

Where do eggs come from? How are corn flakes made? How do oranges go from grove to glass? How is sap turned into syrup? Let's find out!

1. Cereal

Different cereals start as different agricultural commodities. For example, frosted corn flakes start as corn, and Cheerios start as oats. Other cereal grains include rice and wheat. Hot cereals are also popular choices! They can be made from oats or wheat as well! America’s Great Plains are commonly known as our “breadbasket” because many of the states grow grain!

Where did your cereal start? See how corn flakes are made. 

2. Eggs

Eggs pack a powerful protein punch making them an eggcellent breakfast option. Eggs start with chickens! Hens lay eggs in a controlled environment and are fed a high-quality, nutritionally balanced diet of feed made up mostly of corn, soybean meal, vitamins and minerals to produce quality eggs. Some eggs are still gathered by hand, but in most production facilities, automated gathering belts do the job. Eggs are then washed, graded, sorted, packaged and shipped! *

Check out some free lesson plans, videos, and egg-speriments from the American Egg Board.

3. Maple Syrup 

Maple syrup comes from trees on a maple tree farm. Yes, farm! The process is called "sugaring"  and it involves taking the sap from the tree and boiling it into syrup.  

Watch and see how sap turns into syrup in this video from America's Heartland. 

Looking for a book recommendation? Try Sugarbush Spring  by Marsha Wilson Chall.

4. Bacon

Bacon is perhaps the king of breakfast. While the most popular bacon comes from pigs, there are other types of bacon out there including turkey bacon and even beef bacon- “shmacon”!

Learn more in this America's Heartland video all about bacon!

Here are some bacon fun facts:

• Bacon for breakfast represents 57% of all bacon sold in food service!
• A pig weighing 275 pounds produces 16 pounds of bacon.
• More than half of U.S. homes have bacon on hand at all times.

These facts and many more are courtesy of Pork Checkoff. Check out their infographic here. 

5. Orange Juice

A classic breakfast beverage, orange juice starts with some great oranges usually grown in Texas, California, and of course the sunshine state itself: Florida!

Watch how oranges go from grove to glass in this video! 

Further learning about oranges and citrus fruits in this lesson plan from National Ag in the Classrom. 

6. Milk

This "dairy good" breakfast beverage is perfect for pouring on cereal or into a glass! Milk comes from cows that have produced calves. Dairy farmers milk their cows multiple times a day, every day. Dairy cows don’t know it is the weekend!

Learn more about dairy farmers and how they take care of their cows with The Udder Truth.

BONUS- Blueberries

A perfectly pop-able breakfast treat, did you know blueberries are mostly picked by hand? Blueberries grow on bushes. In the spring, clusters of beautiful white blossoms pop up all over the bushes and are pollinated by bees. Each blossom eventually becomes one blueberry – first hard and green, then reddish-purple, and finally blue, sweet and ready to eat!*

Watch this virtual tour of a blueberry farm and see how much science is used in the blueberry picking and packaging process!