I'm a child nutrition worker and I've noticed that many kids don't know what basic food is. (Didn't read the article in the title of the previous post, but it inspired me to write this.)

I've been working at a local school in the cafeteria for the past year. I've noticed that a lot of the kids have no idea what a lot of basic food is. Please keep in mind that I am American and live in the United States.<br><br>For instance, rice is a very basic food. I serve rice a lot at the school I work at. I've met a lot of kids who don't know what rice is, and don't want to try it. A lot of the kids I serve have never had rice before. Or they say they've never had real rice before, they've only had instant rice. This is mainly the African American kids, but also some of the Caucasian kids. I've never met a Hispanic child who doesn't know what rice is. I think this is because Hispanic people (I don't like to call darker skinned people Latino because they aren't from Latin America. They are from Central and South America. Latino refers to Spain/Portugal/Italy/France. I know it's a touchy subject). Rice is a staple in Hispanic cuisine. <br><br>I serve the kids tator tots, and they usually love them. But when we serve baked potatoes with butter they don't like them. I've had kids tell me they've never had a baked potato. I ask them if they've ever had tator tots and they say yes. I'm like, "Do you know what tator tots are?" And they're like, "No, what are they?" And I'm like, "They're potatoes." <br><br>This is kind of a problem with the way some people cook. They don't tell children what's in the food. And kids need to learn to eat sometimes. I'm not saying force kids to eat things they don't like, but you should try to get them to if it's healthy. You can at least ask your kids if they want to try something. I know some kids are more picky than others, and that's fine. But I think sometimes parents should just encourage their kids to try things.<br><br>Also, I've noticed that some kids don't even know how to eat certain foods until I show them. We served apples one day and a lot of the kids were biting into the apple like you would a hard candy. I'm like, "How are you eating that?" And they're like, "I don't know." I'm like, "How do you usually eat apples?" And they're like, "We usually eat apple slices/cut up apples." I'm like, "Why aren't you cutting up the apple?" I show them how to cut up the apple and then bite into it. Most of the time the kids will ask me if I can cut up their apple for them after I show them how to cut it up.<br><br>This is just something I've noticed. I doubt anyone is going to see this post. But I just thought I'd share.