Food for Thought: Do Your Children Know Where Their Dinner Comes From?

Introducing children to the food they eat and involving them in the kitchen from an early age is crucial to nurturing a lifelong love for good food. Ben’s Beginners, a programme which seeks to encourage Irish mums and dads to get cooking with their children, is offering Irish families the opportunity to win a €5,000 cash prize plus a €10,000 donation for their school to fund a healthy initiative. For more info head on over to the Ben’s Beginners Facebook page. The closing date is Sunday November 9th so get cooking and good luck! A new piece of research by Ben's Beginners has revealed some alarming holes in the knowledge of young children when it comes to some of our most common foods. Here are some of the top food fails amongst children under the age of seven: -          30% could not identify a red pepper and 85% cannot correctly name a leek -          Nine out of ten children can identify broccoli but only 58% can correctly identify courgettes -          Only a third of children surveyed knew what chips are made from -          One in three could identify what animal ham was made from The research also found that only 14% of the parents surveyed involved their children in the preparation of evening meals, something which might start to explain these worrying statistics. What's even more revealing is the fact that given the chance 79% of children who took part in the research would like to cook more with their parents. All of this begs the question: why aren’t parents getting their children more involved in the kitchen? According to the research parents highlight the following key barriers: -          Time pressure (64%) -          Preference to do it themselves (29%) -          Perceived lack of children’s interest in cooking (20%) -          Know-how and inspiration to involve them (19%) Getting active with your kids in the kitchen could benefit them in more ways than one. The simple act of involving them in the cooking process will help to spark a better relationship with the food they eat and with the ingredients that will make healthy meals for years to come. Here are some top tips for how to get you children cooking: -          For smaller children (aged between five and six), concentrate on stirring and adding ingredients -          Children love to dress up so why not use mini chef hats and aprons to add an element of fun -          Kids aged seven and upwards will enjoy measuring, either by cup or using the kitchen scales -          Children of all ages can lay out ingredients and parents can encourage them to identify what they are