Agricultural Literacy Curriculum Matrix

See a collection of articles reporting the results of various research projects carried out by the United States Department of Agriculture. These articles can help secondary students make connections with topics such as food, nutrition, and overall health. 

• A Big Fat Debate: A low-fat trend finally appears to be on its way out. For over 50 years the medical establishment, public health officials, nutritionists, and dieticians have been telling the American people to eat a low-fat diet. Only recently have nutrition experts begun to encourage people to eat "healthy fats."
• Cancer-Fighting Roles of Intriguing Plant Compounds: Various studies are yielding new clues about the roles that compounds from plants may play in preventing cancer and other diseases.
• Seeing is Believing- When Nutrition Saves Sight: While 20/20 vision has become a symbol of visual clarity, between now and the year 2020, more and more people will experience vision loss. Research is finding that healthy eating can reduce health care costs and the incidence of quality-of-life declines from various diseases.
• Bolstering Bone Health Through Nutrition Research: Nutrition researchers are intent on discovering more about the role nutrition can play in boosting bone health.
• Boost Immunity With Food and Sun: Your immune system is your body’s own powerful army. It puts up an array of sophisticated defenses against threats from within and without. Studies in the United States and abroad increasingly point to vitamin D as perhaps one of the immune system’s strongest allies against disease.
• Boosting Calcium in Carrots and Other Veggies: Through research carrots have been modified to contain more calcium—and this research can potentially be used to add calcium to other crops to help adults and children obtain their adequate amount of daily calcium.