Food Plants

Food Plants — page 5 — S EA R C H LIG H T Plantains are a bananas that aren’t sweet b yellow bananas c mushy brown bananas

Food Plants — page 6 — BANANAS F ruitofGold A banana plant may grow to a height of 20 feet or more but it is considered to be an herb rather than a tree Instead of a trunk it has a stalk made up of leaves rolled tightly around each other From the stalk grows a big bunch of 50 to 200 individual bananas Only one bunch grows on each plant The bunch is made up of several clusters Each cluster has 10 to 20 bananas After harvesting the plant is cut down A new one then grows from an underground stem Bananas grow only where it is warm and wet all the time which is why people in cold countries may never see a banana plant They love to eat the bananas though That’s why banana farms called plantations are a big business in South Asia Africa Central and South America and the islands of the Caribbean Sea But Asia is where bananas originally came from Farmworker on a banana plantation in Oman in the Middle East Christine Osborne Corbis Most everyone knows what happens to a banana that has sat around too long It gets brown and mushy So bananas have to be picked while they’re still hard and bright green They may have a long trip ahead of them usually thousands of miles from the plantation to the grocery store Refrigerated ships keep the bananas from ripening too soon and then special heat and moisture treatments help them to ripen on schedule Bananas are used in making delicious cream pies cakes breads and fruit salads Many people’s favorite banana dessert is the banana split ice-cream treat But not all bananas are eaten as fruit Some varieties never get sweet These bananas called plantains are cooked and served as a vegetable DID YOU KNOW The largest banana split ever made was reported to be a little over four and a half miles long LEARN MORE READ THESE ARTICLES JACKFRUIT MANGOES PALM Bunches of bananas hang on a plant before being harvested and exported from the Caribbean island of Grenada in the West Indies Dave G Houser Corbis Answer a bananas that aren’t sweet 9

Food Plants — page 7 — S EA R C H LIG H T Which of the following is not mentioned as a member of the cabbage family a broccoli b cauliflower c carrot d Brussels sprouts 10

Food Plants — page 8 — CABBAGE T he Head ofa VegetableFamily Cabbage has been grown for food since ancient times Nearly 3,000 years ago the Greek poet Homer mentioned it in his story-poem the Iliad Wild cabbage is native to the shores of the Mediterranean Sea It also grows wild on the sea cliffs of Great Britain The ancient Romans probably planted it there Cabbages have thick moist leaves with a waxy coating The leaves are often gray-green or blue-green in color Cabbage plants like cool weather and deep rich soil Over hundreds of years many vegetables have been developed from the wild cabbage Some are used for garden decoration or for feeding animals But people eat many kinds The cabbage group includes the common Two heads of cauliflower Ed Young Corbis cabbage cauliflower broccoli Brussels sprouts and several other vegetables They are rich in vitamins and minerals and low in calories The common or head cabbage has a tight bunch of leaves the head around a center stem People eat the leaves raw or cook them Cabbage soup is a popular dish in much of eastern Europe Finely chopped raw cabbage is the main ingredient in a salad called cole slaw If sliced-up cabbage is salted and put away for a long time it goes through a chemical change The result is sauerkraut a popular dish in Germany In Korea cabbage is a major ingredient in the traditional dish called kimchi Cauliflower has a head of tight thick white flowers People eat the flowers either raw or cooked Broccoli has bright green loosely clustered flowers People eat these flowers along with the tender stalks Brussels sprout plants have many little cabbage-like heads instead of one large head at the top DID YOU KNOW In France a popular term for a loved one is petit choux which means little cabbage LEARN MORE READ THESE ARTICLES GRAPES PALM TOMATOES There are more than a hundred varieties of cabbage Common or head cabbage is pictured here Eric Crichton Corbis Answer c The carrot is not part of the cabbage family 11

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