In news that should be shocking but somehow isn’t, a solid 7% adults reportedly aren’t aware that chocolate milk is not a natural product of brown cows. According to NBC News, a survey conducted by the Innovation Center for U.S. Dairy of 1,000 adults over 18 in April 2017 found that 7% thought chocolate milk only came from brown cows in a natural manner and 48% weren’t sure how chocolate milk came to be at all. The results of the survey come during National Dairy Month and it reveals an alarming trend with people’s knowledge of the food they’re putting in their body.
As NBC News and The Washington Post point out, a 2011 survey showed that a selection of elementary school children in California weren’t aware that pickles were cucumbers, didn’t think lettuce and onions were plants, and were unaware that hamburger and cheese were both products made from cows. NBC notes that a study the following year provided a possible answer for this trend:
“Unfortunately, a majority of today’s consumers are at least three generations removed from agriculture, are not literate about where food comes from and how it is produced,” the National Institute for Animal Agriculture concluded in a 2012 research report, also cited by The Washington Post.
There’s a lot you could connect to this bit of news, be it the rise of obesity or chronic diseases, but it’s bad enough that folks are that misinformed. While magic and spells would create an interesting wrinkle in our daily food adventures, it’s not the best route for creating those “well-rounded” adults we all aim to be at some point.
(Via NBC News)
