How do plants make the food we eat?

Plants make food by using sunlight to turn water and carbon dioxide into sugar. This happens in green leaf parts called chloroplasts, where chlorophyll catches light. The sugar, called glucose, becomes plant food and later may become carrots, apples, potatoes, rice, or wheat.

During this process, plants release oxygen into the air. That means a snack is connected to a leaf doing chemistry in daylight: atoms from water and air are rearranged into something solid enough to eat, store, grow with, and share through the food chain.