The origin of food is, to say the least, confused in the minds of young Americans. Difficult, under these conditions, to adopt a balanced diet.
- According to the FAO, more than 10,000 kilos of meat are consumed every second in the world, or 323 million tonnes for the year 2017.
- This consumption has increased by 2.3% per year over the past 10 years.
The least we can say is that little Americans are not nutrition experts. According to a new study conducted by psychologists from Furman University (South Carolina), nearly 40% of children surveyed believe that hot dogs and bacon come from… plants. 46% of young Americans also believe french fries came from an animal.
Eating animals is no longer “acceptable”
Another very clear lesson from this study: most children aged 6 to 7 consider that animals such as chickens, cows and pigs are not sources of food. “acceptable”. “Childhood can therefore represent a unique opportunity during which it is possible to build lifestyle habits that help mitigate climate change (by reducing the consumption of meat, which is very polluting, editor’s note”, say the researchers positively. “Adopting a plant-based diet is one of the most effective ways to reduce our carbon footprint,” they recall.
176 children surveyed
To establish these astonishing conclusions, the scientists questioned 176 American children between the ages of 4 and 7. Based on their interviews, the researchers believe that if American children do not know where their food comes from, it is mainly because their families have difficulty broaching the sensitive subject of the death of animals. So if they have “noted widespread errors in their basic nutritional knowledge”, “foods of animal origin were among those that the children analyzed the least well”, they conclude.
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