Know your food -

The separation between people and their food gets ever wider. People don't know what meat is, they don't know how to make a loaf of bread, and way too many people don't know what an actual vegetable looks like.

It is one thing not to hunt (or be aware of hunting),it is another to be oblivious about foods that don't come in neat little packages on the store shelves. Way too many kids only ever see foods that come in bags.

I read this article this morning about the evils of prepackaged food. The message is good - eat healthier, know what you are eating. On a deeper level, I like to think that maybe people need to become more connected to their foods. Maybe even eat whole vegetables some times.

Do You Know What a Radish Looks Like?

Have you seen this video? It’s the one where British chef Jamie Oliver walks into a first-grade classroom and asks the kids to identify fruits and vegetables he holds up. He’s not trying to stump them — it’s not as if he’s holding up bok choy or kumquats or other items outside the average six-year-old’s culinary repertoire. No, it’s tomatoes, cauliflower, eggplant and mushrooms — and the kids couldn’t be more confused.

I guess I shouldn’t be shocked. And not just because he’s in Huntington, West Virginia, which was recently named the unhealthiest town in America. I recently went to four different corner stores within walking distance of our office right outside Washington, D.C., in search of some vegetables. There certainly weren’t any fresh vegetables (only one even offered a few lonely bananas), and the frozen food cases were stuffed with pizzas and ice cream and…that’s about it.

Let’s face it: We’re a society who eats out of boxes, bags and bottles.

Read the rest here.