Classes, Seminars, and Workshops
Mid Winter Teacher Institute: Food, Nature, Culture
This workshop will introduce K-12 teachers to the Museum’s newest exhibition,Our Global Kitchen: Food, Nature, Culture.
Food
It takes more than 40 different species to make a simple lunch (tuna sandwich on whole wheat, potato chips, iced tea, and an apple). You’d be surprised to know how far some of the ingredients have traveled. As shoppers and as eaters, we play a critical role in shaping what ends up on our plate and why. Informed choices keep us healthy and help protect ecosystems around the world — along with all the species, including humans, that depend on them.
Now open! In the new exhibition Our Global Kitchen: Food, Nature, Culture, the American Museum of Natural History explores the complex and intricate food system that brings what we eat from farm to fork.
Support for the development of Science Topics was generously provided by Sidney and Helaine Lerner, GRACE Communications Foundation.-
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Science BulletinsLittle Farmers
Scientists from Rice University in Houston, Texas, found that a third of wild specimens are able to sow and harvest the soil bacteria they rely on for food.
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researchHealthy Eating for You and the Planet: Select Seasonally
Inspired by our 2004 "Living With Nature" program, "Healthy Eating for You and the Planet," this wallet card contains information on seasonal foods of the Northeastern United States.
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Hands-on ActivityGlobal Grocery
Have you ever wondered what gives chocolate its flavor?
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Blog PostOur Global Kitchen Exhibition: Brazilian Urban Farms
Six exquisite miniature dioramas in the new exhibition Our Global Kitchen: Food, Nature, Culture illuminate diverse methods of farming around the world—including in cities.
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Classes, Seminars, and WorkshopsFood! (Grades 3, 4, and 5)
When you snack on potato chips, or enjoy spicy Thai noodles, do you ever wonder where your food comes from?
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Science BulletinsHave Humans Adapted to the Western Diet?
Italian scientists report that people in Western countries lack the diversity of stomach bacteria found in rural villagers in Africa. The implication is that our bodies are better suited to the diets of our ancestors than the modern Western diet.
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ActivityRice
Rice is Vietnam’s primary agricultural export, planted on more than 80 percent of the country’s total farmland.
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Young Naturalist AwardsAgricultural Genetic Engineering
It is crucial to provide education about genetically engineered foods to the public, who will be deeply affected by this technology and who will determine the market for these foods.
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EssayThe Green Guerillas
From a humble start 25 years ago tossing seed-filled water balloons into abandoned city lots, the Green Guerillas have grown into an organization that has created and maintains 1,000 urban gardens.
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EssayFarming in a Dry Land
Mexico's Oaxaca Valley gets almost no rain for seven months of the year. Yet more than 2,000 years ago, the Zapotec people created one of the most successful farming civilizations in the Americas.
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ExhibitionOur Global Kitchen: Food, Nature, Culture
Take a journey around the world and through time. Stroll through an ancient market, cook a virtual meal, peek inside the dining rooms of illustrious individuals—and consider some of the most challenging issues of our time.
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Blog PostArtifacts from Museum’s Collections Offer Clues to Two-Thousand-Year-Old Cooking Methods
How do we know what people living in China 2,000 years ago ate, and how they cooked their food? Ethnographic objects can offer important clues about daily life during the Han Dynasties (226 BC to AD 220).
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Hands-on ActivityFood for Thought
Do you think these genetically modified foods are a good idea?
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ResearchHealthy Eating for You and the Planet: Avoiding Pesticides in Produce
Inspired by our 2004 Living With Nature program, Healthy Eating for You and the Planet, this guide lists the fruits and vegetables that are typically most likely to have higher pesticide residue levels.