Some Food for Thought Trivia Below are 30 food-related trivia questions (plus a few extras) to help celebrate National Nutrition Month, or to use any time you feel like a little "food for thought." How-to & Tips: Present all of the trivia questions at once, or do a few every day or so throughout the month. Play as a group or in teams. Keep score and award points if you want. At the beginning of the activity and throughout, remind the group that the answers are all "food" related. If you have a dry erase board nearby, write FOODS in big letters to use as a visual cue. Pause and discuss a particular question or ask a follow-up question. (Some examples are provided below.) You might find that the activity goes in another direction. If people are having trouble answering the questions, give clues. Or, if you want, give a couple of possible answers and ask people to select one. Bring in some healthy snacks to serve during or after the activity. Trivia Questions The 30 trivia questions below are divided into three categories - breakfast, lunch/dinner, and desserts. Rise and Shine - Breakfast Trivia 1. What do most nutritionists consider to be the most important meal of the day? (breakfast) 2. What can you serve sunny side up or scrambled? (eggs) What
does it mean if you order your eggs "over easy"? What are some other ways to serve eggs? (poached, hard boiled, in an omelet) 3. Fun Fact - More than one third of all eggs consumed are eaten for breakfast! How do you like your eggs cooked? 4. What is another name for flapjacks? (pancakes) 5. Dr. Seuss wrote a book about green eggs and what? (ham) 6. What favorite hot breakfast drink could you call a "cup of joe"? (coffee) 7. Discussion Break According to legend, coffee can be traced back to 9th century Ethiopia in Africa, where sheep herders noticed their sheep became very antsy and animated after eating coffee beans. At first, most people actually ate coffee beans instead of making a drink out of them. Over the years, coffee became a staple for most people to help them stay awake or to get them moving in the morning. Does coffee keep you awake or make you antsy? Did you know that you can buy chocolate covered coffee beans? Do you think you would like to try them? How do you like to take your coffee? Do you like to drink coffee all day long or just in the morning? Some people say that you need to use cold water in your coffee maker to make the perfect cup of coffee. Do you have a trick to make the perfect cup? 8. 9. What cereal box often has pictures of famous sports stars on it? (Wheaties) What is their slogan? (Breakfast of Champions) 10. If you re having a BLT sandwich, what breakfast meat would be on it? (bacon) What else would be on the sandwich?
11. Fun Fact - The BLT sandwich (bacon, lettuce, and tomato) became popular with the introduction of the supermarket after World War II. These big stores could provide fresh lettuce and tomato year round. What supermarket do you like to go to? How many supermarket chains can we name? (Jewel, Dominick s, Aldi, Krogers, Publix, Ralph's, Safeway, etc.) 12. What hot cereal might you eat with milk and brown sugar on top? (oatmeal) 13. Fun Fact - Speaking of World War II, since most of the country s wheat supply was shipped overseas to soldiers in the war, US citizens were encouraged to eat oatmeal to show their patriotism and not deplete the wheat supply. What kind of adjustments did you make during war time? Did you not use or eat certain things? What types of things were rationed? (gasoline, rubber, butter, coffee, eggs, sugar, etc.) 14. What kinds of fruit do people put on their cereal? (This is a listing question, so encourage people to give as many answers as possible - blueberries, strawberries, bananas, raspberries, raisins, dried cranberries, etc.) 15. What kind of toast is dipped in egg, cooked in a skillet, and then topped with powdered sugar and/or maple syrup? (French toast) Main Course - Lunch & Dinner Trivia 1. What kind of cheese do you typically put on a pizza? (mozzarella) 2. What do you think is the most popular pizza topping in America? Is it pepperoni, onions, or mushrooms? (pepperoni) 3. Discussion Break Different cultures like different pizza toppings, and sometimes the choices are very unusual. Japan's most popular pizza topping is squid. Australia's most popular is eggs! Folks in India prefer pickled ginger on their pizza and the favorite
topping in France is fresh cream. What do you like to have on your pizza? Do you like anchovies? What do you think about pineapple on a pizza? Does that sound appetizing or not to you? Some people like a thick pizza crust, while others prefer a thin crust. What kind of pizza crust sounds good to you? Chicago-style pizza is a deep-dish pizza (more like a pie) with a thick crust. New York-style pizza has a thin crust that you can fold, making it easier to eat. Which would you prefer? 4. What kind of pasta is usually served with meatballs? (spaghetti) 5. There is a salad that shares its name with a Roman emperor. Can you think of it? (Caesar salad) 6. 7. What brand of soup is Mmmm, Mmmm good? (Campbell s soup) 8. Fun Fact - The Campbell's soup cans are red and white. Did you ever wonder why? Company executive Herberton Williams adopted the colors in 1898 because he so liked the colors of the Cornell University football team's uniforms. Do you have a favorite soup? 9. When describing something that is really great, you might use the expression "it is better than sliced. (bread) 10. What vegetable can you serve mashed, scalloped, baked, cut into fries, or chopped and fried as hash browns? (potatoes) What toppings do you think most people put on their baked potatoes? (salt, pepper, butter, sour cream) How are au gratin potatoes prepared? (sliced and baked with cheese) 11. What vegetable did Popeye credit for giving him his big muscles? (spinach) Not everyone likes spinach. How about you? 12. If you re very calm, you might be called cool as a
. (cucumber) 13. What elbow-shaped pasta is usually baked with cheese? Hint: It is a children's favorite. (macaroni) Who "stuck a feather in his hat and called it macaroni"? (Yankee Doodle) Something Sweet - Dessert Trivia 1. What fruit is supposed to keep the doctor away if you eat one of them a day? (apple) 2. What dessert is made with cake that is covered in ice cream and meringue and then browned quickly in the oven? (Baked Alaska) 3. What Greek dessert is made with flaky layers of phyllo dough, nuts, and syrup? (baklava) 4. What light and spongy cake would you say is the most heavenly? (angel food cake) What is different about its shape? (It is baked in a special pan that leaves a hole in the center.) 5. What kind of pie do you think is most all American? Apple, peach, or cherry? (apple) 6. Fun Fact - In a survey of armed forces in 1951, banana cream pie was voted the favorite by the troops. Rice pudding was voted the least favorite. In other pie related news, the state dessert of Massachusetts is Boston cream pie. What kind of pie sounds good to you? Do you know any good tips for making pie crust? Does using very cold butter help with making a good dough? 7. If you set cherries and brandy on fire, what dessert would you be making? (cherries jubilee) 8. 9. What do you think is the most popular cookie? Sugar, chocolate chip, or peanut butter? (chocolate chip) 10. Fun Fact - Some people call chocolate chip cookies "Toll
House cookies." Did you ever wonder where the name "Toll House" came from? It's because the cookies were invented by Ruth Graves Wakefield in the 1930s. Ruth and her husband Kenneth owned the Toll House Inn, near Whitman, Massachusetts. Ruth cooked for her guests, and one day she had to substitute semi-sweet chocolate for baker's chocolate in a cookie recipe. She chopped the chocolate into small pieces, but when she took the cookies from the oven, the semi-sweet chocolate had not melted into the dough as the baker's chocolate had. These cookies with chocolate "chips" became an immediate hit with her guests. 11. What cookie usually has fork marks on the top? (peanut butter cookies) What do you do to keep the fork from sticking to the cookie dough? (You dip the fork in sugar first.) 12. What do you call the cake that is red and usually topped with a white cream cheese frosting? (red velvet cake) 13. What cake has a vegetable in its name and in its recipe? (carrot cake) A Little Bit of This, Little Bit of That 1. Black-eyed peas are actually not peas. What are they? (beans) 2. The nectarine is related to what pitted fruit? (peach) 3. A prune is a dehydrated what? (a dehydrated plum) 4. A raisin is a dehydrated what? (grape) 5. What sticky liquid might you use to sweeten your tea? (honey) 6. True or false? Watermelon is 92% water. (true) 7. Where do carrots grow? On a vine or underground? (They are a root and grow underground.) 8. How many types of nuts can you name? (peanuts, almonds, cashews, pecans, walnuts, macadamias, etc.)
9. Do sunflower seeds really come from sunflowers? (yes) 10. Do you know how many servings of fruits and vegetables nutritionists say you should eat each day to stay healthy? Is it two, five, or ten? (five)