Can Your Child Identify a Tomato? Teaching Kids About Food

children, specially small kids will eat fruits and vegetables that are only familiar to them, its also a good idea to let them know or see the fresh produce before cooking them so that they will know what they are eating.

This reminds Bossy of a handful of years ago, when her teenage son got a job at the local grocery store co-op. He was a cashier, which we all thought would be good experience in math and... um, no.

That job is all about ringing up the many foreign-looking produce that comes careering down your conveyer belt!

Within a few weeks, Bossy's son could spy the difference between flat-leaf parsley and cilantro without inspecting the baggie, like he knew which onions were Vidalia organic, and which peaches were grown locally.

Funny how the kid and veggie experience anxiety never stops!

You can find Bossy over at her place, i am bossy ( http://www.iambossy.com ). Don't even knock, she's always there.

I'm always trying to make sure I'm doing things so my children learn about healthy foods and enjoy them.  I definitely use prepared foods (like pasta sauces, etc.) sometimes.  I do have 3 young children and don't always have the time to cook.  But I really try to make sure my kids see me cooking and let them help as much as I can.

I also try the gardening, which they enjoy.  I haven't had a lot of luck with getting things to actually grow though, except tomatoes, which my kids don't like. Black thumb, I guess.  Maybe this year something will grow.

I like to  take them to the grocery store and show them the veggies and fruits I buy, and how to choose them.  And I like to have them pick out something to try.  We just made purple mashed potatoes, the kids loved them (taste just like the white kind), and we made baked sweet potato fries which also  have gone over well.

I think of all the things we worry about with our kids,(getting good educations, keeping them safe, etc.) we have lost sight of how important it is to teach them about keeping themselves healthy, both through diet and exercise.

Jessica You can find me lurking about at 

Adventures With Three Girls ( http://adventureswiththreegirls.blogspot.com/ )

"More than ever, I'm realizing how important it is for us to set a good example for her; she looks up to us and will follow what we do."

You said it! :)

Amy
Crunchy Domestic Goddess ( http://crunchydomesticgoddess.com )
BlogHers Act contributing editor ( http://www.blogher.com/special-events/bloghers-act )

That's awesome! I have to admit, I've never eaten a parsnip either (and don't even know what one looks like!). I am glad though that there are many foods my kids have experienced that I never had until my 20s or 30s.
Amy
Crunchy Domestic Goddess ( http://crunchydomesticgoddess.com )
BlogHers Act contributing editor ( http://www.blogher.com/special-events/bloghers-act )

My daughter is only in kindergarten, but she eats lunch at school twice a week. I pack her lunch 99% of the time, but once in a while she really, really wants to eat "hot lunch" and I give in. I ate the food there with her once and felt sick afterwards. So did she. She just ate hot lunch again on Friday of last week and told me later that she wasn't feeling well. Then she said, "Remember, hot lunch makes you feel yucky." I'm actually rather glad she's seemingly having a reaction to it. It's not all crap food, they have fruits and veggies along w/ the processed stuff, but still, I'm glad that her body tells her when she's eaten something that's not so great.

For the record, I remember in middle school that getting a bag of Funyuns and a candy bar was a perfectly acceptable lunch or at least, it was what the "cool" kids did. And I ate Pizza Hut pizza and fries for many a lunch in high school.

You are right - things need to change in the schools too.

Amy
Crunchy Domestic Goddess ( http://crunchydomesticgoddess.com )
BlogHers Act contributing editor ( http://www.blogher.com/special-events/bloghers-act )

Hey, I grew up in Oakland County. :) I don't recall there being a farmers' market back then though, or if there was, my mom never took me. She did have a garden though and I'm following in her footsteps.

Amy
Crunchy Domestic Goddess ( http://crunchydomesticgoddess.com )
BlogHers Act contributing editor ( http://www.blogher.com/special-events/bloghers-act )

I saw the preview for the Jamie Oliver series and cried. Heartbreaking that children today are raised on junk food. Sad that their parents don't know any better, either.

My daughter is very young but I am looking forward to teaching her about food -- good food -- and am trying to get her started on the right path of healthfulness and awareness, even at only ten months old. Her father and I love to cook and hope to pass that love on to her. We are fortunate to have an area in our backyard that serves as a small vegetable and herb garden; living in a remote rural area, we don't have a lot of options when it comes to local growers/home delivery (I really wish we did!).

More than ever, I'm realizing how important it is for us to set a good example for her; she looks up to us and will follow what we do. That means working harder at making healthful meals instead of taking the easy way out and grabbing carry out or something processed out of the pantry. We've also started to educate ourselves on where our food comes from. Thank you, Food Inc.

Amy blogs over at This Northern Life ( http://thisnorthernlife.com ).

I've given it some thought, and I think it's not necessarily about gardening - it's simply about eating basic foods and cooking basic foods. If our generation mostly eats out or uses convenience foods, then it makes sense that kids don't recognize many meal components (would they know to name a bag of flour by the way or is it just fruit and veggies?)

--

Jennifer Marshall

I'm always trying to teach my children about food.  I think it's great that you let them watch Food, Inc.  I'm teaching a class this week for moms, trying to educate them about the processed food we feed our children...or choose not to.  Thanks for the insight.

This just further illustrates that the art of cooking is going out the window! I grew up watching my mother cook (and reading her cookbooks.) Recently my sister was visiting and her youngest child always had to be in the kitchen 'helping'. It is just sad to think that this type of learning does not happen in a lot of homes which is why children cannot identify these ingredients.

Adults like me... I started blogging about vegetables when I realized how deficient my knowledge of vegetable variety was after visiting the amazing farmers' markets in Portland, OR. 

Now I try a new vegetable each week, and while friends and family may think I'm a bit nutty - they have been overwhelmingly supportive of the endeavor, and are willing to try whatever vegetable dish I create. 

At a recent dinner party - we all tried parsnips for the first time together....  And that  was the adults.  It's my hope that the parents at that party will pass on their new parsnip knowledge to their kids.

Cristin

www.theweeklyveggie.com ( http://www.theweeklyveggie.com )

you might have access to a CSA farm.

http://www.localharvest.org/

Getting our box of veggies each week is like Produce Christmas. It becomes very obvious very quickly which veggies are in season, as well as what they look like before slaughter.

It just dumbfounds me that with all our modern conveniences, we (in general, not specifically) have even less time to cook, let alone spend time cooking with our children.

I think the problem of children not being able to name common vegetables or fruit is as a consequence of one or two generations ago, when a parent would cook most of the meals from scratch.  Now it seems more households opt for eating without cooking.  I grew up in a culture with everyone cooking and preparing meals and I'm trying to do the same with my three kids, now living in a country which is the biggest consumer of ready meals in Europe. 

My oldest daughter is not that interested in cooking though she can make a basic dish very well.  She will tell me that she loves the food she eats at home in comparison to when we eat out in most restaurants or friends houses, and because her tastebuds have acquired good food I know when she's older those tastebuds of hers will force her too cook even if just a simple meal.

I never worry too much about making my children being hands on with lots of cooking but will encourage to do baking with them and show them basics, 15yrs, 11yrs and 2yrs.  When they walk into the kichen and see me prepare, chop something they'll ask, 'what's that?' or 'what are we having?' or 'it smells so nice what is it?' and these were the questions and the curiosity I and my cousins had when we were growing up and that's how our interest in what we were putting into our mouths come from. 

How can you possibly have an interest or ask questions about a ready meal?

You loose the skill of cooking you loose the ability to make your children take an interest in what they're eating and where it comes from.

...is the junk food that is given to children at school.  Over the years, the cafeteria food has gotten worse.  I  remember when the "lunch ladies" used to cook food and lunches.  Now they just re-heat and serve and it is all processed junk...high in salt and fat and who knows what else.  In high schools there are Taco Bells, and Burger Kings that operate a window in the cafeteria.  i know this is all big business for schools, but it indoctrinates children too.

Cooking is practically non-existent in families any more...everyone is on such a fast pace with soccer and sports etc. Going out to eat is the norm and usually it is something fast.  URGH! 

Whatever happend to real food?

Cece

One of the two Whos

http://www.thetwowhos.com

I will never forget the first time I saw someone kill a chicken in order to eat it.  Part of the procedure included hanging it from a low lying branch to let the blood run out.  I never did climb that tree again.

I wish more kids - and adults - understood what was involved in farming and supporting farmers.  I'm really lucky to live near the Oakland County Farmers' Market in Michigan.  One of the best things?  If you don't grow it yourself, you can't sell it.  I get to have ongoing relationships with the farmers who are selling to me and I get to create relationships with them.  (Due to land and health issues, I can't put out a garden like my family has done for centuries.)

One thing more families could do, even with a small space, is grow a bit of lettuce, a tomato plant, etc. in containers.

I think more alarming than children not being able to recognize vegetables and fruits, is that children are not knowing where their food comes from i.e. the ground, and not via magic, wrapped in cellophane.  How can they respect and love our earth, if there is this disconnect? 

I love having a vegetable garden and getting the kids to do the work with me (child labor? Yes please! lol) My boys really look forward helping out and they always get really excited to eat the fruits of their labor - lettuce, cucumber, carrots, broccoli, you name it .  We don't villainize veggies in this house - and you won't be able to, even if you wanted to, when the boys have worked so hard for the harvest. 

I love that they also learn to appreciate and respect their food and the earth that provides it.