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Do You Teach Your Kids Where Food Comes From?

DoctorShavegood

"A Boy Named Sue"
Producing food on a ranch or farm is a major undertaking. It takes hard work, know how and kindness from the weather and/or diseases. In my opinion we should have a respect for where it all comes from and teach the little ones what it's all about.

Do do you teach your children/grandchildren where and what it's all about?
 
Great point, Dr. Our kids are now 26,22, and 19. We did some food source education when they were younger, but I am sure it was inadequate. You are correct in that most kids (and adults for that matter) today really have no idea where our food comes from and how much toil and sweat is required to produce it.
 
My kids both hunt and fish. I worked farms & ranches in my youth, they are well aware how it works. The grandkids are also avid fishers, and starting to hunt bunnies and such.
 
My kids help me clean the doves/quail etc. That I shoot and cook. They are 8 and 5. We also have a garden and they love taking care of "their" 72 strawberry plants.
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Yep! I find they eat more after they were a part of the harvest and processing. One of my boys did not like or eat fish until he caught some perch and pickerel ice fishing, he could not wait for dinner that night and even enjoyed the fried roe. Now I get dinner questions about where this came from, who got it, what part of the animal, and of course critiques on the spice mix...

Fun stuff,

Tom
 

DoctorShavegood

"A Boy Named Sue"
My kids help me clean the doves/quail etc. That I shoot and cook. They are 8 and 5. We also have a garden and they love taking care of "their" 72 strawberry plants.
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Dove is my first too as a kid. We had an annual dove shooting weekend at friends cabin out in the middle of a huge corn field (already plowed under). We all pitched in to pick and clean the birds. It was a big pot luck too and where I ate my first gulf shrimp. Good days.

Yep! I find they eat more after they were a part of the harvest and processing. One of my boys did not like or eat fish until he caught some perch and pickerel ice fishing, he could not wait for dinner that night and even enjoyed the fried roe. Now I get dinner questions about where this came from, who got it, what part of the animal, and of course critiques on the spice mix...

Fun stuff,

Tom

Great story Tom and something learned from the youngsters.
 
My 7 year old said to me after seeing whole trout in the store today that she doesn't like how it looked at her.
 
I live in a suburb of NYC, but still raise 7 chicken, rabbits for meat and have an extensive vegetable garden as well as several different fruit trees. I want my 5 year old to know that food isn't created in the store and that you have to work for it.
 
I'll start teaching my daughter as soon as shevis old enough to comprehend what I'm talking about. She's not quite two and a half yet. I'm raising chickens and grow a large variety of edible plants, fruits, and vegetables. I also prefer cooking from scratch, so she'll get to learn to apriciatte what it takes to make food as well.
 
yes, made no bones abut it.
A couple of stories from when my daughter was young. (She's almost 20 now)

She was about 4, we were talking about chicken, and she hadn't made the connection between "chickens at the petting farm" and "chicken in the supermarket". She said she thought they were different animals. After I gently enlightened her, her response was kind of a "Huh, Well that's interesting." Then she asked if we could have chicken for dinner that night. (That's My Girl #1)

She was about 5, we went to "Greek Easter" at a friends, which of course, was based around a whole spitted lamb cooked over a fire pit. She saw it and did kind of a double take -- I could see the thought running through her brain -- and then was one of the first in line when it was ready. (That's My Girl #2)

She's always been an animal lover -- but never had a problem with the intersection between food animals and cute animals. By the time she was a pre-teen, when she saw a "new" animal at the zoo, farm, etc -- she was more likely to ask whet it tasted like, rather than whether she could pet it. (That's My Girl #3)


Yeah, I have no worries that she going to turn vegan or anything.
 
My oldest (Danika pronounced Dan ica) asked if we could go fishing when she was about 4. I asked her what she would do if she caught a fish. She looked at me like I was dumb and said "cook it and eat it".

We have brought our kids to farms and dairy farms so they know a little.
 
My son, age 14, knows exactly where food comes from. He's never had meat in his life, and says he never will. My stepson, who I've raised since age 1, knows exactly where food comes from, and tries not to eat any meat he hasn't hunted and butchered himself. His father has a cattle ranch with hundreds of free range cattle. He also hunts deer, bear, and boar.

Whether you're a vegetarian or meat eater, I think it's important for kids to know where food comes from.
 
We live on a nice piece of property with chickens and cattle. We also have gardens to provide a lot of our summer and winter vegetables. We fish and hunt here as well. My (almost 5) daughter helps cook, clean and butcher everything. She likes the outdoors and being dirty. I hope it stays this way!!
 
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