“Where does your favorite food come from?” Ames eighth-grade students have been learning the answer to this question through an ISU Agricultural Education Club program.

The club members have been visiting Ames Middle School, 321 State Ave., for the past three weeks to educate students in a home economics course with a program called “Pizz-A-Thon.”

“Our basic principle is to go in there and teach the kids where their food comes from and who makes it possible,” said Katie Lewis, co-chair of the event.

The Pizz-A-Thon program is a five-part series. Club members went to Ames Middle School on Jan. 28, Feb. 4 and Feb. 11. Two additional meetings are tentatively scheduled for Feb. 25 and March 3.

“On our first day, we had them map the basic ingredients [of the pizza] back to the soil,” said Brittany Greene, co-chair of the event.

For example, one ingredient the members had the students trace back to the soil was the cheese on pizza. They first had to make the connection that the cheese was a milk product from a dairy cow, and the cow’s food supply included grass and hay, which comes from soil.

Ultimately, all the food products linked back to soil, said Lewis, freshman in agricultural education.

“On the second Friday, we reviewed the basic knowledge of agricultural products,” said Greene, freshman in agricultural education. “We then took the products and tried to determine who actually produced them; we wanted the kids to see where the jobs are.”

During the third session, the class went over the marketing of the product.

“[The students] had to come up with their own plan on how they were going to sell their pizza,” Lewis said.

In the weeks to come, the middle school class will have a preparation period to present their final project. During that time, “they make their pizzas and give their presentation,” Lewis said.

The Ag Ed Club members said the majority of students need this type of education because they are not receiving it anywhere else.

“I would guess that 98 percent [of the middle school students] are not from farms and are unaware of the basic knowledge of agriculture,” Lewis said.

Greene stressed the significance of the program.

“Everything evolves around agriculture, and we want people to acquire a realization of its importance,” she said.