Where Food Comes From

Day in and day out my kids come to the dinner table and are fortunate enough to have full plates and eventually tummies. At times I get frustrated that they aren’t more grateful. They seem to think the food will just appear, just as the sun rises. I constantly find myself urging them to eat all their food, similar to Ralphie’s little brother from A Christmas Story… “Show me how the piggies eat”

I don’t believe kids can actually appreciate what they have, whether it be a motorized scooter or a chicken taco, unless they gain knowledge about it, or even work for it. I decided to give my kids a hands-on experience with the food they eat and share it with Nature For Kids.

We recently took a trip to Idaho and on our way passed bold green fields of potatoes, sugar beets, corn, wheat and alfalfa. My kids had the opportunity to learn where food comes from and how exactly it grows. Their grandpa is a farmer of over 500 acres in south-central Idaho!

When they dug up the potato plants their eyes widened as they counted the golf ball sized potatoes, each plant having 12 or more.

 

Their grandpa explained that the potato plant grows from seed potato. It’s a very healthy potato cut in half and placed in the ground and then covered with dirt. He then pointed out the rows and rows of sprinkler pipe that keep the fields irrigated.

 

In the Fall I hope we can make another trip to show them the harvest process. They will surely be surprised to see how their golf ball sized potatoes have grown to become truckloads of large spuds filling huge potato cellars to the ceiling. 

Later that same day, the kids helped plant corn in grandpa and grandma’s garden. Ideally I’d like them to be there to water and weed the corn and then a couple months later taste the fruits of their labor right off the cob.

Fortunately we’ve planted strawberries and a cherry tree at our house that they take care of willingly. Mostly because each time they water and weed there’s always a red juicy sweet treat to reward them!

For a family dinner, before we left Idaho, we cooked up loads and loads of french-fries from potatoes grown the previous year. The kids seemed pretty impressed with the results. Hopefully our dinner table conversation won’t be plagued with lecturing and persuasion any longer. Yeah right! I think their experience of learning where food comes from will help take the edge off though.

Everyone Needs To Read This!

I came across this interesting quote by way of Farm Aid, “Young farmers are becoming a rare breed: only six percent of American farmers are younger than 35, while the majority of today’s farmers are between the ages of 45 and 65.* Introducing children to farming and gardening at a young age may inspire a new generation of family farmers that will strengthen American agriculture and protect your food choices.” *United States Department of Agriculture, 2002.

ACTIVITIES -These are some really fun and educational food activities that you can do with your kids.

Where Food Comes From:

Here’s a fun idea I got from Kids and Cooking. After grocery shopping take your food and lay it out on the table. Have your kids read each label on the food products to find out where they came from. Then go to a world map and find the location of where your food came from. It’s a fun way to educate kids.

Fake vs. Real:

I came across this activity at USA Today. Ask your kids what they think cave men ate. Their response will probably be something like nuts, berries or meat. Explain to them that these types of foods are “real foods”. Then point out some “fake foods” or foods that cave men didn’t have like fruit snacks, cheetos, or jello.

 *picture from USA Today

They’ll probably catch on pretty quick. Explaining that real foods have more nutritional value than fake ones can help your kids make better food choices. You take this activity further by having them keep a journal of what they’ve eaten in the past three days and then circlce the foods that are “fake”. This can help your kids and you as a parent realize where you’re getting your nutrition!

Pick Your Own:

Picking your own veggies or fruit is fun and rewarding. Check out the blueberry picking post submitted by Becca Renfroe of Northwest Arkansas. Have your kids decide what they want to pick and then go to pickyourown.org to find a farm near you.

Plant Your Own:

Planting a garden would always be ideal but if you’re lacking the space for a full-on garden consider follwoing these step by step instructions for container gardening. Making your own pop bottle terrarium is also a space saver. Planting chives inside it is a great way to add flavor to your kids’ day and your baked potato!

Besides teaching kids where food comes from, do you have any other ideas on how to get them to appreciate healthy food more? Leave a comment here at Nature For Kids.

gardening, farming, food, plants, healthy kids

Filed under Camping Food, education |