Where does food come from?
People need food to keep them alive and their bodies healthy, but do you ever wonder where your food comes from?
The next time you’re hungry, make a sandwich. Use this recipe and learn as you go!
To make this sandwich, you will need:
Take one piece of bread and lay it flat. Take the meat and the cheese and layer it on top of that piece of bread. Then, place the second piece of bread on top. Congrats! You just made a meal all on your own.
But where did the deli meat and the cheese come from? Sure, you may have bought it from a grocery store, but where did the grocer get it? How was it made?
Deli Meats:
Deli meats are slices of cold, previously cooked meat. There are a lot of different kinds of deli meat. Below are videos that show how some of them are made.
Sausage and bologna
Grinding up meat from cows or pigs makes certain kinds of deli meats, such as sausage. The meat is then seasoned. After it has been seasoned, the meat is placed into a special casing by machines and turned into links. Cooking the meat kills any harmful bacteria. Finally, the meat is packaged and sent to a grocery store.
Watch the process in more detail here!
Turkey and chicken
Other deli meats, such as turkey or chicken, are made a little differently. Seasoning solutions are injected into the meat with needles and machines are used to tenderize the meat. After being tenderized, more seasoning is added to the outside of the meat. It is then placed into a plastic wrap and excess air is vacuumed out. The meat is smoked for 6 hours to cook the meat. The meat is removed from its plastic wrap, fried and then cooked some more. This improves flavor and gets rid of any bacteria that could make you sick. Finally, the meat is packaged and sent to a grocery store.
Watch the process in more detail here!
Cheese:
Cheese is a co-product from milk.
Cows are milked using an automatic milking machine. Bacteria are added to help preserve the milk. These are not the kinds of bacteria that make you sick. The type of bacteria used depends on the kind of cheese being made. Different bacteria make cheeses have different colors and flavors. The milk is heated and more bacteria are added. This causes the milk to become partially solid. The solid parts of the milk are called curds. The part that remains a liquid is called whey. The curd is what will later become cheese. The curds are placed into a mold and pressed to get rid of any excess whey. The cheese is then soaked in salt water to harden and preserve the cheese. The cheese is then set aside to mature. This can take anywhere from a few weeks to several months, depending on the kind of cheese being made.
Watch how Swiss cheese is made here!