When a child does not know what a potato is (for example) there is no one to blame but the parents! They are not teaching their children anything - and they don't care to. Apparently parents like this are the cause for the way children eat and live. Keep having kids and let outsiders raise them and teach them - grrrrrrrrrrr

ticks me off - no call for it- but I'll shush before I say something I REALLY want to say...

What ever happened to flash cards to teach children to read???? I remember pictures like an "A" for Apple, Carrot for letter "C" or the Tomato for letter "T". I can not believe that children do not know what a potato looks like. Around here we go through atleast 5 lbs a week. The kids have grown up with the peeling. As a kid with the potato farm we always had 50lb sacks around. It wasn't the knowledge of what a potato looked like but what size grade it was or type of potato.
That's what happens when the good ole cartoons were taken off the TV. Bugs Bunny was always chomping on a carrot.Elmer Fudd was always rescuing his veggie garden. Popeye was always eating a can of spinach. Tom and Jerry had the whole food group going on, lol.

>>I can not believe that children do not know what a potato looks like

first hand experience reporting here: believe it.
a potato should look like the thing on the McD's menu board for "super sized" fries. in a garden setting you can omit the paper sleeve, but otherwise . . .

not my kids, once upon a time I stumbled on a 'kiddie hoe' - about three feet long, mini-hoe blade, all three know what it is, what it does, and how to make it do what it does.

but the neighbor kids . . . lamentable but true situation.

I was brought up in the kitchen, the garden, and I always did the grocery shopping with my mother! We went to the farms to get fresh eggs and pick fresh produce. Not only did I know what my fruits and veggies were - but I knew how to grow, pick, clean, eat, cook or bake with them and also how to preserve them for future use. I knew my cuts of meat, where they came from, how to cook them. I knew my cheeses, breads, flours, seasonings, all at an early age.

I don't care what anyone says - I believe children SHOULD go grocery shopping. Yeah -they ask for things - and it burns me up to see a mother tell her little ones that they cannot buy fruits or vegetables and her cart is loaded with pre-packaged meals to nuke. Some school "introduce" certain fruits and veggies for children to try. If they like it - why not buy it and cook it? Sheer ignorance and laziness on the part of the moms.

All these pre-packaged SLOP, MSG-loaded, over-processed foods that can be nuked are not only making women (and men) lazy, but it is ruining everyone's health as well.

Microwaving foods changes the molecular structure of the foods - no wonder cancer is so high and other diseases are out there.

I worked 90+ hours a week for years - and I still made time for cooking, baking and big batch cooking so that I could freeze it to re-heat in the oven when I was pressed for time. I went 9 1/2 years without one day off - including all holidays. Don't tell me it can't be done. I never slept - I had no time. And I still did all my laundry and cleaned my house daily. And I had to keep up with the outside too.

What's their lazy-azz excuse?

I too feel fortunate for having been brought-up in the country amid gardens and farms and fields. Not only did it help me establish knowledge, experience and enjoyable habits that would eventually become my life's bread-and-butter, but it's kept me fat and happy!

My young niece and nephew are kinda being raised with other priorities and are being encouraged to develop other hobbies and interests. This is good too, but... Oh well... When Uncle Kevin gets a hold of them and tasks them w/ peeling potatoes, cracking eggs or hulling strawberries- I can just see their eyes sparkle as the enjoyment of learning this new stuff takes hold. I hope long after I'm gone Hailley and Layne think of me everytime their hands are in food- or everytime they enjoy a satisfying meal!