Sometimes I'm amazed, I really am...

[Comfreyfan]

I always wondered who'd bother buying ready made mash!

[rogesse]

Going back to the original post, my son goes to a CofE, somewhat deprived London school where there are gangs, drugs and some indifferent teachers (some are great) but he knows his onions from his shallots and tayberries from raspberries. In his first year at senior school he had to take home economics (or whatever it's called nowadays) and for one of the first lessons they got to bring in their own ingredients. He happily raided my allotment and also insisted on taking in a dragon fruit - even the teacher didn't know what it was!

Needless to say 2/3rds of the class brought in nothing and best beloved was allowed to swap HE for carpentry half way through the year because he didn't need lessons in how to make tea and toast!

[miffy]

I have been growing veg with my reception children in our own little lottie in school. They now recognise lots of veg and a little girl pulled up a carrot yesterday, she washed it and her and three of her friends each took turns to nibble on it. Magic!
One little chap had never seen a strawberry before, he calls them garden sweeties now because they are so sweet.
I grew up with grandparents who had a fab cottage garden and grew everything you can imagine so i was very lucky.
My aim is to have a whole school lottie next and i am working on that at the moment,secruring grants and getting help so many more of our children will know where their food comes from.

[lindyloo]

patchnina; i wasn't saying young people didn't know about veg growing; i was only replyng to a previous poster; saying that it wouldnt take long to become the norm, IF i family didnt grow veg, or bought only from supermarket. . to be honest, my concern ie food buying , is more for the fact that a lot of people don't know, or care, dont know where thier meat comes from

[Glutton4...]

... i was only replyng to a previous poster; saying that it wouldnt take long to become the norm, IF i family didnt grow veg, or bought only from supermarket. . to be honest, my concern ie food buying , is more for the fact that a lot of people don't know, or care ...

I quite agree. We buy fresh fruit and veg. Organic, if we can afford it, and resist supermarket produce if possible, as we both find that it is usually tasteless. No wonder the majority of kids won't eat veg!

We have friends, similar age to us, who only eat frozen food, including veg, because that's how they were brought up. Their Step-Dad grows veg, but only a very small amount, due to having a very small garden. Their Mother buys frozen, because she always has - even though her first husband always had a productive allotment. Weird innit!?

They even buy frozen ready-chopped onions too! Yeeeuuuuch!

[Alison]

i'm guessing that the mother is fairly young herself, so wouldnt know about fresh food? trying to think back, it would have been in the 60s-early 70s that all of the convenience food started to come out, supermarkets appeared on more and more high streets, and veg. gardening became not as popular as it had been previously. then again some people just dont like gardening.

so if that went down the generation line it would go 1970s mother bought veg from shop, 1990s-2000s mother also bought from shop, and now her children circa 2010, take it as the norm.

There were certainly no supermarkets arouund us when I grew up in the 70s and most people I knew brough veggies from the Friday street market but then I suppose a lot of my friend's mum's only worked part time so were able to get there OK. I genuinely don't remember having any convenience food at all until probably the late 80s. I do agree to some extent that it can be habit though although I do know a lot of people who never had any interest in where their food came from until they had children of their own. Was round a friend's house last night and these are people who I know buy frozen mash. However they have some sack with potatoes in, a bit pot with a runner bean wigwam, a tomato in a pot and some peas as well as a few strawberries in a pot. Their toddler took me round the garden telling me what each pot contained (and was right too ) and even pointed at an empty pot to tell me that those were just weeds and that she wouldn't be able to eat them. The strawberries in particular are just hers and she's allowed to pick ripe ones whenever she wants (it's not a big tub but she loves the ownership thing). It made me smile a lot.

[Patchninja]

patchnina; i wasn't saying young people didn't know about veg growing; i was only replyng to a previous poster; saying that it wouldnt take long to become the norm, IF i family didnt grow veg, or bought only from supermarket. . to be honest, my concern ie food buying , is more for the fact that a lot of people don't know, or care, dont know where thier meat comes from

That's not what I meant! I don't think you need to grow the stuff to know what good, fresh fruit and veg is. The shops are full of it.
There has never been a time in history when there was such choice and variety in what you can buy in any of the supermarkets, take is home and make a fabulous nourishing meal.
Also, with the plethora of programmes on cooking on TV and free recipes on the internet, there is really no excuse to say that people don't know how to cook. If you can read, you can cook.
On the other hand if you don't care what you feed yourself or your children, then there's no hope! You're right about that.

Then, I don't live in England but surely all the fruit and veg in the shops aren't that bad, are they?

[gemsplus2]

this is part of the reason i want to grow my own. currently i take my children to the green grocers where the veg still looks like veg and not all vacuumed packed in the supermarket. i also taught myself to cook for the kids. when my son was born i really couldnt cook and we didnt have a healthy diet. i knew this had to change so self taught myself. my son (hes 3 now) would still pick a pizza over vegetables but he does enjoy veg and helping prepare dinner (i even make veggie pizza now so he gets the best of both worlds)

im hoping he will get into gardening with me and when we eventually have our first crop he will feel some pride in the fact we grew it ourselves.

the thing i think needs to change in schools is the home economics class. my friends children make things like cakes and cookies. thats fine but i think more emphasis should be put on veg and fruit. maybe if children got into it at school it could encourage the parents to try it at home.

[lindyloo]

i think things have changed in supermarkets over the last few years too- as now i see food which has already been prepped-washed, peeled, sliced, and diced, and even put in a foil tray/ oiled so you just pop it in the oven. not sure when i first saw this but i know it didnt used to be like that. it's all about convenience and time saving, isn't it/ i admit i buy frozen brocolli, and peas, occasionally corn-- because i cant grow it to fruition- something eats it before we get to! and also because of lack of space.

[lindyloo]

theres personal preferance in this also; i love being outside, and getting mucky, my sister gardens too, probably more than me, but my younger brother who also used to be outdoorsy, now minces around with his children and worries about geting a smudge of dirt on his shoes. his kids are really nice, but always seem a bit namby pamby when it comes to animals and outdoors, and yet thier mother gardens too. also, my brother doesnt care about the quality of food he eats, or animal welfare, and yet he had the same upbringing as the rest of us!

patchnima- ditto- i always worry about how whatever i post is percieved, as its really difficult for us to express in print, exactly what we are trying to say!!

[Patchninja]

I hadn't realised how sanitised veg seems to be now in England. Doesn't all that prep make it really expensive too? Thank goodness we still get the real stuff here! I grow some because I love doing it but I don't need to. It's very different, I think.

[gemsplus2]

I hadn't realised how sanitised veg seems to be now in England. Doesn't all that prep make it really expensive too?

yes i think it does tbh. and i find that the cheapest in the supermarket isnt a great quality. its why i love the green grocers we have. its cheap but the veg is erm veg like? lol. you know you pay 50p for a swede that is enough to feed the family and tastes great. pay £1 for a bag of big juicy carrots that sort of thing.

[Caro]

I think I'm going to have to stick to buying pre-packed veg, as that way I won't end up with more than I intended.

Conversation at farmer's market today:

Me: I'll take a kilo of your spuds, please
Farmer (having overfilled the weighing tray) How about this lot for £2.00 ?
Me: Oh, okay then
Farmer: And did I hear you say carrots too?
Me: errr, yes, a few would be nice
Farmer: Might as well have onions to round it off?
Me: Sure, why not?

It was nearly closing up time, so he just wanted rid! Still, I ended up with lovely fresh veg, loads of it, for £4. Now, what can I make with potatoes, onions and carrots?

[gemsplus2]

ooooh if it wasnt so hot i would say a veggie stew. total bargain you got there

[Patchninja]

what can I make with potatoes, onions and carrots?

Potato salad with spring onions, chives and a nice vinaigrette.
French onion pizza - Pissaladière. Caramelise your onions and make a pizza base. Cover with onions, anchovies and black olives and a sprinkle of olive oil and bake.
Grate the carrots for a salad.