Cows, Pigs and Chickens Are Not Ok To Eat Say US Kids In A Research

11 November 2021

Do the kids know where their food exactly comes from? It's surprising how many parents aren't transparent about where their food comes from. A researcher asked 176 kids in the US to sort food based on animal-based and plant-based. Around 36-44% of the kids mismarked all animal-based food except for dairy milk. 

These kids believed that bacon, cheese, hot dogs, and hamburgers were plant-based. Around one-third of kids also marked eggs and shrimp as plant-based. And around 38% of the kids also believed that chicken nuggets are plant-based.

Another set of questions asked kids to sort plants and animals under is 'OK to eat' and 'Not OK to eat.' The list of animals included fish, cats, dogs, chickens, monkeys, cows, pigs, and chickens. And that of plants had dirt, oranges, tomatoes, grass, and sand. More than two-thirds of the children marked cows, pigs, and chicken as 'NOT OK to eat.'

Around 41% of the kids believe bacon came from plants. Also, approximately 84% of kids categorized cows and pigs under 'NOT OK to eat.' The study says, "One reason that children may exhibit confusion about animal-based food is that many parents in the United States are reluctant to talk with their children about the origins of meat."

WHY DON'T PARENTS TELL THEIR KIDS WHERE THEIR FOOD COMES FROM?

It is said that many parents feel uncomfortable talking about where their food comes from with their kids. They also believe that their kids might refuse to eat if they know where the food comes from or how it is produced. Parents also say, "Rather than manage the inconvenience of cooking several meal options or confront the emotions that may come with the revelation that the bacon on their child's plate was once a living, breathing pig, some parents instead skirt the truth altogether through vague terminology that has potentially lasting impacts on children's eating habits."

HOW BAD IS IT FOR THE PLANET?

Not knowing where the food comes from is a severe and unique problem to tackle when it comes to climate change. The fact that kids cannot see animals as food is a point to prove that humans naturally cannot consume meat or kill animals for food unless it becomes social conditioning. Researchers asked parents to be more transparent with their kids about their food. "Childhood may therefore represent a unique window of opportunity during which lifelong plant-based diets can be more easily established compared to later in life," the study says.

If parents do not influence kids to eat meat, then the younger population can slowly adapt to a better lifestyle with better and sustainable food choices that helps in combating climate change.

Read More: Upcycling cashew fruit to plant-based meat - This Hawaiian start-up has done it right

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