Do your children know their vegetables?

[Liz CA]

Last night, dh and I were in a meeting of local farmers because we are interested in buying meat directly from the farm/ranch. In the course of the panel discussion, several farmers agreed that they had school children visit the farm on a field trip and several of these children could not identify a potato!!! They knew it in form of a french fry but did not know that french fries are potatoes and did not recognize a potato when it was unpeeled and whole.

Some could not tell a tomato from a peach!!!

 

OMG! I nearly slid off my chair.

 

PS: I am not writing this from a metropolitan area but from the agricultural valley of California.

 

 

[Jean in Newcastle]

My suburban kids know their vegetables. Dd8 sometimes does call a potato a tomato but that's because she gets confused between the names. She absolutely knows which one is served mashed or in a french fry and which one comes in ketchup!

[Mrs Mungo]

I'm pretty positive my kids could recognize most fruits and vegetables, especially the type found at a farmer's market.

[bbsweetpea]

Yes mine can recognize most fruits and veggies and we have only been to a farmers market once.

[Crissy]

My boys do know their fruits and vegetables. They may not know kale from swiss chard, but in general they are familiar the foods we eat before they are chopped and/or cooked.

 

I would not be surprised that many kids can't recognize fruits and veggies in their fresh state given the number of people I personally know who don't shop and cook with their kids. A fair number of those people also buy frozen or processed foods far more often than they shop the fresh produce aisle.

[Liz CA]

I understand how many kids wouldn't recognize a fruit/veg in its original form, especially if they're used to eating them all chopped/sliced/diced from a can or bag. I'd even bet a big percentage of children are not even given vegetables to try, and we all know what they look like on a school lunch tray. Thus, I don't think my kids are "smarter" just because they know the names.(and I'm not saying you do)

Whenever I'm buying groceries, 7 out of 10 times I have to name the vegetables for the cashier--cherries, not radishes, tangerines and not lemons, etc. The strange thing? They're not always young cashiers, either.

 

No, it's not an issue of smarter or less smart but I was really surprised that in our community there are children who don't know what a potato looks like. Nobody can know everything and until two years ago, I was not always sure if I looked at a Rutabaga or a Turnip (have learned since then) but something as common as a potato or tomato???

It's really sad because it evidently shows that some have never seen a garden, much less planted one and reaped the harvest.

[Snickerdoodle]

On BBC they had a show with Jaime Oliver. He took some veg to schools in England and the kids could not identify what they were. He then took veg to a kindy class in Italy and the kids could identify all the veg.

 

It was an interesting show.

[Daisy]

A lot of the kids in our area (central valley) are poor and eat foods that come out of a can. They might recognize a pea but they won't recognize it at a farmer's market.

 

We have a garden. My children can identify vegetables that some adults don't know (rutabaga, daikon radish, various peppers, etc.).

[joannqn]

My kids can identify all of the fruits and vegetables that we eat on a regular basis and a few that we don't. They probably don't know what a kumquat or an artichoke are, for example, because we never eat them. My DS2 gets apple and tomato confused regularly.

 

I find it sad...more so because it shows the sad state of families and our food supply, rather than how sad our school system is. We don't garden. We've been to a small farm once or twice. Most of my kids' knowledge comes from going grocery shopping with me (What's that?), helping in the kitchen, and eating real food.

Edited February 16, 2010 by joannqn

[Snickerdoodle]

 

 

Well, it doesn't show the whole sequence. But the idea is there.

Edited February 16, 2010 by Snickerdoodle

[Melissa in FL]

Not only could my city born and bred children identify a potato in it's natural form, but they could also id the plant it came from and they are well aware that it grows underground and how to dig it up. It's very important to this country momma to make sure her kids know about how things grow and how to grow their own food if they ever need/want to. Dh has always been a city boy but did grow up eating baked potatoes and could have id them. However, it amazes me what dh did not know about food growing and where our food comes from before we were together. I really go out of my way to drive to the country during growing season to buy/pick straight from the farm. I could probably just go to the farmer's market but I want my kids to be comfortable with being in the country and recognize how much work goes into thier food. My kids are also learning how to preserve food by canning and making jams. I can see how some kids would have no clue though. In fact I don't think the neighbor children knew it was possible to can food until they saw me doing it. Yes, I am odd in this neighborhood (and proud of it).

Melissa

[mooooom]

and the guide told me that most of the kids that came to visit, rode in an elevator for the first time in their lives and that that was the highlight of the museum for them...

[Ginevra]

That reminds me of a cheesy tv show I saw once, something like, "Honey, We're Killing the Kids". :tongue_smilie: The family, having been counseled to change their fast-food, junk-food ways, were in the grocery store. The mom tells the kid, "Look for one of those long things. You know, those long green things?" :lol: I think she meant squash or cucumbers, but that always cracks me up!

 

I also had a young clerk at the supermarket once ask me, "What is this?" when I had an avocado!

 

And yes, my kids not only know, but eat all sorts of vegetables. You would have to go really exotic to find fruits and veggies they can't identify.

[LittleIzumi]

My dd's would, but then my kids also love broccoli and cucumbers and are addicted to peas straight off the vine (since we moved in here we have been able to garden a bit but they've always had lots of veggies and will swipe mine off my plate).

[Lovedtodeath]

We shop and cook with our kids. Emily probably knows every vegetable you could throw at her.

[MomsintheGarden]

Mine can identify most veg, plus the plants on which they grow. Isn't gardening wonderful?

 

GardenMom

[chaik76]

 

It's really sad because it evidently shows that some have never seen a garden, much less planted one and reaped the harvest.

I actually wish I never had!

My dh and the kids do have a garden...I just have no part in it. There's also a lot of places where having a garden is just an impossibility.

 

My kids know common fruits and vegetables but I'm sure there are plenty that are less common that they don't know.

[kewb]

Mine can identify the ones we eat regularly and probably a few of the ones we eat rarely. But that is because of the way we eat. I doubt they would be able to identify the plant without a ripe veggie hanging off of it. When I was a kid I am pretty sure I only would have been able to identify iceberg lettuce, green and red peppers, carrots, celery, cucumbers, tomatoes, potatoes, radishes, scallions, and onions. Now that I typed that out that seems like a lot. Anyway, my point is, kids learn what they live. If they have a limited diet then that is what they know.

[Dawn in OH]

 

I also had a young clerk at the supermarket once ask me, "What is this?" when I had an avocado!

 

 

 

I had the exact same thing happen to me! Okay, so maybe an avocado isn't common in many homes, but you would think that working at the grocery store she would have encountered it before.

 

My kids can id the standard veggies; carrots, potatoes, tomatoes, cucumber, lettuce, broccoli, green beans. If I hold up a star fruit or kiwi they are confused.

 

I've tried to make a habit of introducing a new fruit or vegetable every time we make a grocery trip now.

[HRAAB]

Yes. My girls can identify most vegetables and fruits I imagine. We raise a big garden and they get to help with planting, weeding, harvesting. Also, we eat lots of veggies and fruit.

[Liz CA]

Mine can identify the ones we eat regularly and probably a few of the ones we eat rarely. But that is because of the way we eat. I doubt they would be able to identify the plant without a ripe veggie hanging off of it. When I was a kid I am pretty sure I only would have been able to identify iceberg lettuce, green and red peppers, carrots, celery, cucumbers, tomatoes, potatoes, radishes, scallions, and onions. Now that I typed that out that seems like a lot. Anyway, my point is, kids learn what they live. If they have a limited diet then that is what they know.

 

Yes! So sad to think how limited some diets are and not necessarily by design but also by time and money constraints.

[keptwoman]

It's really sad because it evidently shows that some have never seen a garden, much less planted one and reaped the harvest.

While I love gardening and the kids help me, I think what's most sad is that these children obviously haven't seen a fresh vegetable in their cupboard or refridgerator! Imagine their diets :blink:

And I don't think the lack of good food is due to financial or time constraints, I've been in your supermarkets, I think it's lack of education. And I'd say there are kids in Aussie who are not much better.

[Mrs Mungo]

On BBC they had a show with Jaime Oliver. He took some veg to schools in England and the kids could not identify what they were. He then took veg to a kindy class in Italy and the kids could identify all the veg.

 

It was an interesting show.

 

I wonder where in England-London and the outskirts? Might things play out differently in the countryside?

 

Yes! So sad to think how limited some diets are and not necessarily by design but also by time and money constraints.

 

Indeed.

 

While I love gardening and the kids help me, I think what's most sad is that these children obviously haven't seen a fresh vegetable in their cupboard or refridgerator! Imagine their diets :blink:

 

I agree, except I don't have a garden, it's not an option here. My kids *have* been to many a market/garden/farm.

 

And I don't think the lack of good food is due to financial or time constraints, I've been in your supermarkets, I think it's lack of education.

Hm, agree and disagree. Big, middle/upper class suburban supermarkets? Absolutely true. The inner cities though? That's a different story. I know there is a definite lack of access in many areas like that.

 

That said, it is more often a lack of education about food *and* cooking. I had a friend in NC who didn't cook *at all*. She came and stayed at my house with my kids for a few days when DH and I had to go out of town unexpectedly. I had a meal plan with really simple meals, many of which my kids could cook. I had green beans listed as the vegetable for one dinner. She looked and looked for them before asking my kids, "where does your mom keep the green beans?" They looked at her like she was crazy and said "in the fridge." She had to call me because she had never made fresh green beans before.

[Spy Car]

My little boy (5.5) could absolutely tell you the names of common vegetables, and many not so common ones as well. We shop and cook together, and he has good ideas in the kitchen.

 

He'd also likely tell you that a tomato is a "fruit" not a vegetable, because the apple (also a fruit) doesn't fall far from the tree :D

 

Bill

[Laurel]

They can name most fruits and veggies, including some exotics. But definitely everything that can be found at our local farmer's market.

 

When we were at a "pumpkin patch" a year or two ago, the then 4yo was confused why the pumpkins had been set out among zucchini plants, not left growing on their vines.

[MamaT]

Yes, my kids can identify most fruits and vegetables unless it is something really exotic. We do garden and eat fresh fruits and vegetables all the time. They also help me in the kitchen.

 

A couple of my kids' friends act like it is something extraordinary when we have fresh fruit and vegetables for a meal or snack when they are over. I know one of my 10yo dd's friends eats fast food EVERY night. They ride home from gym together and she has my dd call and ask what is for dinner just because the concept that I actually cook a meal is so foreign to her.

[mcconnellboys]

That's nothing, honey. As much as eight years ago, I'd guess, I began finding that grocery clerks and waiters at fast food places not only couldn't identify lots of different fruits and vegetables, but many didn't even know what the word "vegetable" means.

 

So, for example, when I regularly order a sandwich with "no vegetables", these personnel will ask, "what do you mean - what's a vegetable?" The last time this happened was within the past year.... These are adults.

[Lovedtodeath]

This thread is making me feel better about myself. lol

[Pamela H in Texas]

my kids really know about veggies as we've always been heavy veggie eaters and then went raw vegan-ish. I have serious doubts that there are REALLY any children that don't know the basics (potato, carrot, lettuce, onion). And even in most daycare classes I've taught in, there have been quite a few that most kids knew or learned, even things like eggplant and zucchini.

[Moira in MA]

I was not always sure if I looked at a Rutabaga or a Turnip (have learned since then)

 

Ah, but can you tell a rutabaga from a yellow turnip or a swede?

 

Or a scallion from a green onion or a spring onion?

 

:D

 

~Moira

[LizzyBee]

and the guide told me that most of the kids that came to visit, rode in an elevator for the first time in their lives and that that was the highlight of the museum for them...

 

Being a farm girl, I knew my fruits and veggies growing up, but I was scared of escalators because I rarely saw or rode on them. When I went on a field trip to the Natl Gallery of Art during high school, I thought the door that went round and round was much more interesting than the art. :D

[abbeyej]

We saw a demonstration of that in talk by Jamie Oliver that the kids and I watched the other day. Not only could my kids identify the veggies he held up, they were *shocked* (and highly skeptical) that the children in the video could not. ... Really, it was pretty horrifying. And very sad.

[OrganicAnn]

I'm always surprised when adults don't know how common vegetables are grown. They may know what they look like, but are sometime clueless about how they grow. I've had someone ask me what happens when I plant a potato, does just one potato grow?

 

We have a big garden, so my DD has dug up potatoes from the ground and knows what different plants look like. She eats most of our asparagus and peas straight out of the garden. She might not know every vegetable, since we don't grow rutabagas, but she knows most.

[LibraryLover]

Oy! We have our own garden, and love FMs! Yet I can't be very sure of what my chldren truly know. We don't peel potaotes fi, so I am not sure my youngest would be able to identify a peeled potato. I could think it quite possible she might say Jicama.

 

I would really not want to know what they coud possbly get wrong! LOL I am sure I would be bummed. lol

Edited February 17, 2010 by LibraryLover

[EthiopianFood]

my kids really know about veggies as we've always been heavy veggie eaters and then went raw vegan-ish. I have serious doubts that there are REALLY any children that don't know the basics (potato, carrot, lettuce, onion). And even in most daycare classes I've taught in, there have been quite a few that most kids knew or learned, even things like eggplant and zucchini.

 

I don't know. I remember when my dn was three or four, and I convinced her to get the grilled chicken at a restaurant, not the fried. They brought the food out, she looked at the plate, and asked me where the chicken was. She literally had never seen chicken that wasn't battered and deep fried.

[keptwoman]

That said, it is more often a lack of education about food *and* cooking. I had a friend in NC who didn't cook *at all*. She came and stayed at my house with my kids for a few days when DH and I had to go out of town unexpectedly. I had a meal plan with really simple meals, many of which my kids could cook. I had green beans listed as the vegetable for one dinner. She looked and looked for them before asking my kids, "where does your mom keep the green beans?" They looked at her like she was crazy and said "in the fridge." She had to call me because she had never made fresh green beans before.

Yes, I'm sorry, that's what I meant. If people don't know how to cook, then they can't use fresh food. I saw Jamie Olivers Ministry of Food and that really opened my eyes to just how little many people know about cooking food.

[Alessandra]

My dc know quite a lot of fruits and vegetables. I love the Oxford Book of Food Plants for info about plant biology, origins, etc.

 

But, reading this thread, I immediately thought of a grocery store scene in Food, Inc. -- a child wanted to buy some ordinary ($1.29 or so) pears, but, when his sister weighed them, she had to say that they were just too expensive. So, if kids don't know their fruits and veggies because freash produce is unaffordable for their families -- well, I feel sadness and sympathy.

[TMc]

Having a garden does help them know their veggies. Problem is they know which ones they really don't like.:001_smile:

[Dawn in OH]

But, reading this thread, I immediately thought of a grocery store scene in Food, Inc. -- a child wanted to buy some ordinary ($1.29 or so) pears, but, when his sister weighed them, she had to say that they were just too expensive.

 

That scene really disturbed me. Fruit is so much cheaper than eating out (as that family did frequently). You can get a pound of fruit for the same price as a 2 liter of name brand soda. You can get a pound of fruit for LESS than a 1 lb bag of chips.

 

Sure, I don't like to pay $3 a lb for a bag of grapes, but frankly I WOULD do that before buying a bag of chips or eating fast food.

[Matryoshka]

He'd also likely tell you that a tomato is a "fruit" not a vegetable, because the apple (also a fruit) doesn't fall far from the tree :D

 

 

Hey, Bill, if you really want to nitpick that point, you'll have to differentiate between the botanical definition of fruit and the "usage" defintion of fruit. Because probably half of what we call "vegetables" are botanically fruit - peas, squash, cucumbers, green beans, eggplant, peppers - anything that grows from a flower. There is no reason to single out the poor tomato as being any more "fruity" than the rest.

 

Dictionary definition of "vegetable" includes many fruits:

veg⋅e⋅ta⋅ble   /ˈvɛdʒtəbəl, ˈvɛdʒɪtə-/ [vej-tuh-buhl, vej-i-tuh-]

–noun 1.any plant whose fruit, seeds, roots, tubers, bulbs, stems, leaves, or flower parts are used as food, as the tomato, bean, beet, potato, onion, asparagus, spinach, or cauliflower.

 

 

It is entirely possible to define something as both a vegetable (usage) and a fruit (botanical). It's not either/or.

 

Sorry, that old false dichotomy's a bit of a pet peeve... ;)

[EthiopianFood]

That scene really disturbed me. Fruit is so much cheaper than eating out (as that family did frequently). You can get a pound of fruit for the same price as a 2 liter of name brand soda. You can get a pound of fruit for LESS than a 1 lb bag of chips.

 

True, but you can make a meal out of 2/$1.00 macaroni and cheese. You certainly can't make a meal out of three pears, and even if you did, you would be hungry again much sooner. For that matter, that 2 liter of pop is going to provide many more servings than three little pears; it's a better value. Vitamins don't make you full, bulk does.

[EthiopianFood]

Dictionary definition of "vegetable" includes many fruits:

veg⋅e⋅ta⋅ble   /ˈvɛdʒtəbəl, ˈvɛdʒɪtə-/ [vej-tuh-buhl, vej-i-tuh-]

–noun 1.any plant whose fruit, seeds, roots, tubers, bulbs, stems, leaves, or flower parts are used as food, as the tomato, bean, beet, potato, onion, asparagus, spinach, or cauliflower.

 

Wouldn't all fruits then be considered vegetables?

[elise1mds]

My kids can and do regularly identify even the weirdest vegetables/fruits. They constantly ask for things like plantains (I do play Fun with Cashiers with that one on a regular basis), kiwis, mangos, all sorts of squash, bean sprouts, etc. My son prides himself on talking me into trying everything in the produce section at least once (so far he hasn't convinced me to buy plain sugar cane), so we've had things like pomegranates, kumquats, quince, etc. My daughter likes asking about weird combinations of things ("Mom, can we have mango and broccoli for dinner?"). All children should know where their food comes from!

[Spy Car]

Hey, Bill, if you really want to nitpick that point, you'll have to differentiate between the botanical definition of fruit and the "usage" defintion of fruit. Because probably half of what we call "vegetables" are botanically fruit - peas, squash, cucumbers, green beans, eggplant, peppers - anything that grows from a flower. There is no reason to single out the poor tomato as being any more "fruity" than the rest.

 

Dictionary definition of "vegetable" includes many fruits:

veg⋅e⋅ta⋅ble   /ˈvɛdʒtəbəl, ˈvɛdʒɪtə-/ [vej-tuh-buhl, vej-i-tuh-]

–noun 1.any plant whose fruit, seeds, roots, tubers, bulbs, stems, leaves, or flower parts are used as food, as the tomato, bean, beet, potato, onion, asparagus, spinach, or cauliflower.

 

 

It is entirely possible to define something as both a vegetable (usage) and a fruit (botanical). It's not either/or.

 

Sorry, that old false dichotomy's a bit of a pet peeve... ;)

 

Actually, we've discussed the fact that "botanically" squash, cucumbers, and peppers are "fruit" (although I don't think we've discussed eggplants :D) and also that while they are "botanically" fruit, in culinary terms we class these things as vegetables.

 

He'd still tell you a tomato is a "fruit" :tongue_smilie:

 

But I'm working on a "well-rounded" education.

 

No false dichotomies here. No ma'am.

 

Bill

[Jean in Newcastle]

My kids can and do regularly identify even the weirdest vegetables/fruits. They constantly ask for things like plantains (I do play Fun with Cashiers with that one on a regular basis), kiwis, mangos, all sorts of squash, bean sprouts, etc. My son prides himself on talking me into trying everything in the produce section at least once (so far he hasn't convinced me to buy plain sugar cane), so we've had things like pomegranates, kumquats, quince, etc. My daughter likes asking about weird combinations of things ("Mom, can we have mango and broccoli for dinner?"). All children should know where their food comes from!

 

To be good, sugar cane should be fresh. Often the vacuum packed stuff at the grocery store is sour instead of sweet like it should be. You suck and chew on the sugar cane, and then spit out the rest once you've gotten all the sweetness out of it - kind of like gum.

[Matryoshka]

Wouldn't all fruits then be considered vegetables?

 

Well, by that definition, yes. If I'd written the dictionary I'd've defined it even a bit more narrowly. ;) Otherwise there's so much overlap the terms become meaningless. But most any child can usually tell you the difference if presented with one or the other (okay, not the kids in the video that started this thread... :glare:) When someone says "eat your vegetables" you dont' think of strawberries, and when someone says "have a piece of fruit", you don't think of a green bean.

 

In daily parlance vegetables tend to be things that are not particularly sweet or savory and we eat with meals. Generally we think of fruit as being sweet, eaten alone as a snack or after meals and in desserts. Everyone harps on the tomato as being a fruit but no one goes on about zucchinis and eggplants. Yes, they're all fruit. And they're all vegetables.

 

Of course even with that definition there are sticky points - I find rhubarb a much bigger conundrum than tomatoes - it's not a fruit botanically, but we use it like fruit. And pumpkin, botanically a fruit, can be used as both like a vegetable (soup), or a fruit (pie).

[Spy Car]

To be good, sugar cane should be fresh. Often the vacuum packed stuff at the grocery store is sour instead of sweet like it should be. You suck and chew on the sugar cane, and then spit out the rest once you've gotten all the sweetness out of it - kind of like gum.

 

It has been ages, but I have fond memories of chewing (and spitting out) sugar cane as a kid. This was a real treat.

 

Bill

[Spy Car]

Everyone harps on the tomato as being a fruit but no one goes on about zucchinis and eggplants. Yes, they're all fruit. And they're all vegetables.

 

 

Don't say no one :D

 

Bill (the one in every crowd :tongue_smilie:)

[LibraryLover]

True, but you can make a meal out of 2/$1.00 macaroni and cheese. You certainly can't make a meal out of three pears, and even if you did, you would be hungry again much sooner. For that matter, that 2 liter of pop is going to provide many more servings than three little pears; it's a better value. Vitamins don't make you full, bulk does.

 

 

Not true.

 

A stomach full of high fructose corn syrup and simple carbs does not fill you. It makes you hungry. Having actual vitamins and minerals in your body feeds the body. A ton of sugar does not. That's something people do not understand. A body void of nutrients is *starving". Literally.

[EthiopianFood]

Not true.

 

A stomach full of high fructose corn syrup and simple carbs does not fill you. It makes you hungry. Having actual vitamins and minerals in your body feeds the body. A ton of sugar does not. That's something people do not understand. A body void of nutrients is *starving". Literally.

 

It's going to cost a lot more to feed your kids pears for dinner than it is a package of ramen. I've had both a good diet and a poor one, and I'm telling you, a box of mac and cheese is more filling than a side of vegetables. I think you can make the argument that people should at least give their kids SOME fruit or vegetables, even if they are going to split a pear four ways so everyone can have some. It's SOMETHING. But seriously, MIL has four adults, a 14 yo boy, and a 9 yo skinny girl to feed. Their diet is exclusively boxed products and meat. She spends $200 a month on groceries. You could spend that much JUST on fresh fruits and veggies for TWO PEOPLE. She does not get food stamps or any other subsidy programs. It is a suburban legend that healthy food doesn't cost more than boxed crap, and that "everyone" can afford it.

 

For the record, my child has never eaten ramen, and I don't give her Kraft anything for meals. ;)