Understanding Where Food Comes From

A good way to help children understand where food comes from and how it fits into cycles of life is to involve kids in the food production process itself. Children of all ages delight in going berry or apple picking, helping out in a garden, and visiting farms, farmer’s markets, and even food processing plants or restaurant kitchens. Even a simple activity such as starting a windowsill garden or sprouting seeds in a jar offers some understanding of where foods come from.

Here are some other interesting activities to do with your child:

• Offer your children the opportunity to taste the difference between produce picked right from the garden and produce that has traveled many miles and waited weeks before making it to your table.
• Trace the ingredients from a highly processed food from their source to the package. What whole foods were used to make each ingredient? What had to happen to turn them into ingredients?  What is the difference in health value between the resultant processed food and the original whole foods? What happens to the parts of the whole food that were not used?
• Compare the number of ingredients on a popular brand of cereal or juice drink to a health–food brand. The difference can be a real eye–opener.

Childhood is the time when individuals learn—or don’t learn—to enjoy a wide variety of food and to experiment with new foods and flavors. Instilling an appreciation for healthy plant foods at a young age will help shape healthy eating habits. These are very important lessons for later in life.