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How wheat worksKansas If you've ever wondered how wheat gets from those Kansas farm fields to your dining room, a new, online program is for you. The Wheat Foods Council has launched, "How Wheat Works," a multimedia program that aims to educate users about the wheat growing process and wheat products' nutritional value. Available at www.howwheatworks.com, the tool allows participants of all ages to virtually grow, harvest and mill their own kernels to create their desired wheat food. 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. "How Wheat Works is an exciting educational opportunity to take wheat kernels from farm to fork in a virtual world, while providing wheat flour, which holds endless meal possibilities, for needy U.S. troops and their families," said Carol Pratt, M.S., R.D., Wheat Foods Council nutrition expert. "This unique mixture of subjects like agriculture, milling, baking and nutrition allows people to better understand wheat's role in a healthy diet." The program itself incorporates 3-D animation, still photography, video and factual information to chronicle wheat's path from field to table. The end of each phase includes activity suggestions that will help participants extend the learning experience by preparing wheat-based recipes, exploring wheat grown in their area and viewing harvest videos from "America's Heartland," a public TV show about American agriculture. "This is a fun learning experience that everyone can enjoy, whether it's a mom teaching her child proper nutrition, a student researching for a school project or a baking enthusiast learning more about one of their most utilized ingredients," Pratt says. Cindy Falk, nutrition educator at Kansas Wheat, says the How Wheat Works website is informative, fun and interactive. "Visitors are invited to step into the shoes of producers, millers, bakers and manufacturers and take virtual wheat from kernel to market during their four-day experience. The combination of computer graphics, still photography and video packs a lot of information in a condensed amount of time. What's more, completing the four-segment program results in a good thing for our military families," Falk says. For each participant who completes a quiz at the end of the program, the Council and their members ADM and ConAgra will donate two pounds of flour to Operation Homefront, a non-profit that provides assistance to needy U.S. troops and their families. Up to 90,000 pounds of flour will be donated. The Council is also offering educational guides at its website, www.wheatfoods.org, to help group leaders and educators use How Wheat Works with their organizations and classrooms. Activity ideas use program content and resources from the Council's extensive library as well as member and partner materials. The Kansas Wheat Commission is a member of the Wheat Foods Council.
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