Food Glorious Food
Teaching our children about the good stuff.........
It seems that over the years and with a dramatic change in lifestyle, we seem to have become rather detached from the process by which we obtain our food. Although around 75% of land, in England and Wales, is agricultural, and with one in five of the population living in rural areas, research would indicate that our children are less informed about farming and food production than ever before.
Some children are even unaware that a sausage is a meat product and that beef comes from a cow. Many simply cannot believe that a chip is a potato and flatly refuse to eat anything with dirt or imperfections on it. It must be hard for kids to imagine that the scrubbed and vacuum packed vegetables on sale in the supermarkets have been grown either above or below soil.
Naturally compassionate, most children would be horrified if they were made more aware of the lives of battery farmed animals, and perhaps we parents don’t want to think about it either. But it is important to educate our children responsibly so that they can then be reassured that many local farmers are still putting their energies and resources into rearing livestock ethically. We can teach our young about the use of insecticides and pesticides as well as the natural methods of organic farming. If we inform our children they can then make informed choices based on their own principles as well as being able to make the connection between good and bad food and how it can affect their health.
Concern is growing that mass-produced food may be less nutritious than is desirable and that diets high in fat and refined products have clearly contributed to obesity and a rise in diabetes in all ages, but the sharp increase in overweight children is a huge worry. We are living in a time where many children only identify food from which fast-food chain it originates from and if it doesn’t come in a logo adorned paper bag, carton or wrapped in a bit of plastic then they are just not interested.
Maybe now is the time to not only address our own bad habits, but to start taking a greater responsibility for the food education of our children. A great place to start is by taking a regular trip to a local Farmers Market, where the whole family can see, taste and touch locally produced food in all its fresh, colourful and delicious glory. You and your children will discover a large variety of foods, some familiar, some new, from seasonal fruit and vegetables to cheese and pickles, fresh meat, locally caught fish and homemade bread and cakes. Farmers and producers will be standing by offering expert advice and are always very happy to talk about their produce and the journey it makes from the field to our tables. It really is in all our interests to inspire a new generation of ‘foodies’; children who can understand the pleasure of great quality, seasonally fresh and ethically produced local food. Farmers Markets take place every week in central locations throughout Essex. For more information or to find a Farmers Market near you visit www.essexfarmersmarkets.co.uk or telephone 01277 362414
Essex Farmers Markets
