Australian Kids Lacking in Food Knowledge, Survey Says

There is a scene in Super Size Me in which American school kids have a difficult time identifying various vegetables. That was almost a decade ago, but, thankfully, we've started to relearn how necessary it is to teach our children about food and nutrition.

Australia may need to rethink its kids' relationship with food as well. In a study released today, Australian primary and high school students prove that we should not take our children's food knowledge for granted.

Among other results, 27 percent of year 6 students (11-12 years old) thought yogurt was a plant, not animal, product; thirteen percent of year 10 students (15-16 years old) believed the same thing.

The introduction to the report, which, I imagine, would have harvested similar results in a host of countries:

"Primary Industry plays a vital role in Australian’s economy and society, but the gap between rural and urban communities is growing, contributing to a lack of understanding of where food and other basic necessities of life come from. The recent television advertisement in which the grandfather shows a row of plants to his granddaughter and says 'this is where peas come from' – to which she retorts 'don’t be silly Grandad, peas come from the freezer' is an excellent example of this disconnect between the community and the industries that sustain them. While intended as a humorous element, there is a concern that this may be an accurate
representation of the understanding and experiences of many young Australians."

Click here to read an article in The Sydney Morning Herald about the study.

Click here to read the actual report ("Food, Fibre and the Future").