It may surprise you to learn that a large percentage of children do not know where their vegetables come from. In fact, many children go days at a time without eating them. This spring is a great opportunity to spend some quality time with your children in the garden. No children, no problem just borrow a few from your brother or sister. There are several good reasons why I encourage you to teach kids how to grow their own food.
1. Obesity
It is not realistic to think that kids are going to give up their chicken McNuggets for eggplant or cucumbers but if they grew their own veggies they would be more willing to eat them. That's one less trip to the fast food store a week.
2. Education
As demonstrated in the Jammie Oliver video near the bottom of this post many children cannot identify basic fruits and vegetables. One of the children thought an eggplant was a pear. Several children did not know what a tomato was.
3. Exercise
My son gave me an activity monitor for Christmas. You would be surprised how many calories I burn gardening in the mini greenhouse. Getting the kids from in front of the TV may be difficult at first especially if they are older but that will change once they see those little seeds grow into food.
4. Health
Many vegetables contain pesticides but sometimes you get a little something extra
Woman finds small frog at bottom of spring mix salad, keeps it as pet
5. Quality timeTeaching children is not just educational it can also become a bonding experience. As your kids grow older they may want to have their own garden. One day gardening may become a family tradition that's passed on from one generation to another.
Spinach from my greenhouse in December
6. Food is likely to become more expensive
Shortage Of Farmers Creates 'Dangerous Situation' For U.S.
Excerpt
"As much as Carter says he loves his profession, he knows he's part of a minority — being a farmer under the age of 50. According to the United States Department of Agriculture, the average age for a farmer is now 58 and has been on the rise for 30 years. There are now six times more farmers 65 and older than there are farmers 34 and under, according to one study."
In the United States, the percentage of children and adolescents affected by obesity has more than tripled since the 1970s.1 Data from 2015-2016 show that nearly 1 in 5 school age children and young people (6 to 19 years) in the United States has obesity.
Source https://www.cdc.gov/healthyschools/obesity/facts.htm
Fast foods. Studies have shown that over the past four decades, consumption of food eaten away from home has also risen alarmingly. It is well known that eating out may lead to excess calorie intake and increases the risk of obesity because of large portion sizes and increased energy density of foods.
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