A poll taken by the British Nutrition Foundation questioned 27,500 children and youth aged five to sixteen about the origins of food. According to a summary of the survey in a BBC article, almost a third of UK primary pupils think cheese is made from plants and a quarter think fish fingers come from chicken or pigs, suggests a survey. Nearly one in 10 secondary pupils thinks tomatoes grow underground.

The survey also revealed confusion about the source of staples such as pasta and bread among younger pupils, with about a third of five-to-eight-year-olds believing that they are made from meat. About 19 percent of this age group did not realize that potatoes grew underground, with 10% thinking they grew on bushes or trees.

Possible Preaching Angles: (1) God, creator; Thanksgiving—It's even more tragic when children (and adults) don't understand the ultimate source of food. (2) Farming; Agriculture—This illustration also sets up Jesus' parables involving agriculture—we don't live in an agricultural society so we'll have to imagine what it was like in the world of Scripture.