My kids have never planted cheese and our chickens can't swim!

I came across a news article today about children's lack of knowledge about the food they eat. It can be read here http://www.telegraph.co.uk/foodanddrink/healthyeating/10095183/Children-think-cheese-grows-on-plants.html

This article saddened me although it didn't surprise me at all.

I get described as a "crunchy mum" or "hippy" quite a bit (although i don't see myself like that and i hate labels anyway) but it hasn't always been like this before children i used to be a Bank Manager always on the go, eating convenience food on the run and generally living my life at a million miles an hour. Yes i breastfed my son and used cloth nappies (not all the time we mixed cloth and disposables) and yes we keep to home made meals from scratch instead of convenience food, my kids can get messy in fact its actively encouraged and they can ask any questions they want oh and i wore my son in a wrap and we keep chickens and grow veg (i guess that does make me pretty crunchy lol) but i choose to do these things as i believe it is the best way for me to raise my children.

I parent the way i do to help my children grow not just physically but mentally and emotionally too and personally i  feel if more parents where a little more "crunchy" there would be far fewer articles like the one above.

Don't get me wrong i don't want to start a debate on parenting styles and i don't believe any one parenting style suits everyone. I understand cloth isn't for everyone and as i stated i didn't use it all the time, just at home and only until weaning (real poo stinks!!!) and not everyone can breastfeed but ditching some of lives conveniences such as pre-packed processed foods and helping your children learn how food goes from field to plate is achievable by everyone in my eyes.

Ok not everyone is lucky enough to have a big garden (or a garden at all) and i know not everyone can or wants to keep chickens but little things like cooking weekend meals from scratch with the children or growing some strawberries or herbs in a pot all help their learning and understanding of the food chain and nutrition.

When my eldest step-son Jake moved in with me at 9 years old i was shocked and saddened by his lack of food knowledge. I cooked a leg of lamb with all the trimmings which he loved but when finished he asked "why was the chicken brown?" i couldn't believe he didn't even notice the difference in taste but until living with me he was pretty much brought up on cheap, convenient processed chicken pressed into any shape imaginable so he really thought 'meat' meant 'chicken'. Unfortunately this is an all to familiar situation and the Jamie Oliver's of the world can do whatever they want to get it out of schools but until parents start preparing and cooking fresh meals from scratch at home and getting their children involved then its a situation that's only going to get worse.

Here is our herbs and strawberries in pots

And the baby chickens

And the veg patch at the start of spring

I also have tomatoes, peppers and chillies growing

My 3 boys will eat almost any veg i serve them as they are so excited to taste what they have grown themselves from tiny little seeds. They know that our eggs come from our chickens and that eventually when the chickens stop laying eggs we will eat them. They also understand that they need looking after and making sure they have a happy life, but ultimately they are going to be our food.

My boys know that our chickens can not swim and do not live in the sea and therefore could never be the main ingredient in a fish finger, they have also never picked cheese off any of the plants in our veg patch.