I'm reminded of a discussion I had with my 10-yr old granddaughter.

At the time she was very into playing a computer game called "Oregon Trail". It is a game where you pretend you're on the Oregon trail during pioneering times and you keep making decisions to see whether or not you would have survived. Well, we happen to live very near a portion of the Oregon Trail so I decided to take her away from the computer and show her what the pioneers really went through.

I drove her out to a trail spot and kept showing her the ruts in the dirt. I waxed on at length at how difficult it was to walk through the sagebrush with dust and the weeds catching on the bottom of your skirt, etc. She finally asked, "Why didn't they just walk on the road?" And she pointed over to the nearby 4 lane highway!

Oops!

In her life experience, paved roads, telephone lines, electricity and running water were features that always existed. She had no point of reference in living a life where those things weren't readily available, or at least nearby and obtainable.

Much is the way with foods in the grocery store. Baby carrots don't grow that way and they certainly don't TASTE any different than a carrot in another form. Yet we're in danger of raising a generation of people who don't realize they can purchase carrots any other way. This is the liability that comes with turning unprocessed foods into processed foods - like carrots that come peeled and shaped and in little baggies. Yes, they are convenient for us. I've bought them, too. But we also have to remember we're raising a generation that thinks 'cooking' is opening a box of Mac N Cheese - which now a days involves nothing more than sticking the container in a microwave.

that is a great thought I never really thought about that. I try to so my girl as much as I can. but that one I lost.