Growing Potatoes - I'm horrified

We are WWOOFer hosts for the first time this year and I am quite surprised at the lack of knowledge of some of the young folk who are visiting but then I figure tha I grew up from very small doing seedlings.  We haven't always lived in the country so that's no excuse.  But I thought, ho hum I'll just need to explain a bit more.

But today took the biscuit.  One of the WWOOFers thought that the 'plants' that were growing in the potato field were just marker plants so that we would know where the potatoes were!!!  Well I guess that they *are* markers in that they are actually the potato plant itself.  This guy had no idea how a potato grew.  I'm gobsmacked.  I have now got out 'eating' potatoes and shown him the eyes, shown him a sprouting potato and explained that given light these sprouts turn green and become leaves.  Then explained how the potato crop forms on the roots.  But geeeee....

i love hearing these stories, it is really quite common now adays for people to not realize where anything comes from, literally anything. They are so used to going to the mall or supermarket for everything, that they don't get it at all.

wonderful that some people are learning from you.

when my food forests are regrown I would love to do some childrens groups here..

This makes me think of Jamie Oliver's "Food Revolution" where none of the first graders knew what any of the fresh veggies were but they recognized french fries & ketchup right off, still they had no idea where it came from.

Sad....
 

You can watch it here: http://www.hulu.com/jamie-olivers-food-revolution