Another survey has come out to illustrate how bizarre and removed from the natural world we’ve become as a culture. A recent British survey found confusion about what constitutes fruit and vegetables, with people not only thinking foods that aren’t fruit and veg are, but also 5% not recognizing oranges or bananas as fruit. Worst of all, in my opinion, is that 15% of parents don’t think it’s their responsibility to teach their children about nutrition.

They believed grandparents, teachers, doctors and celebrity chefs were better qualified to do so.

To me this might be an indicator that our society has become a little too specialized. If parents aren’t teaching their children about nutrition (what do they think is their responsibility after they’ve successfully passed their genetic material on?), it might be because they don’t feel like they know much about it themselves. Which begs the question, who’s teaching them about it? Don’t expect advice to come from your doctor. Since most adults don’t have teachers and probably don’t spend a whole lot of time watching cooking shows, I’m left to conclude these adults (15% of those surveyed) probably care even less about their own nutrition than their children’s. Considering Britain’s tax-payer-funded medical system, the general population will probably be footing part of the bill when this segment of the population’s ignorance comes home to roost in the form of diabetes, heart problems and quite possibly even cancer, just to name the big ones.

How dysfunctional are we that some of us have come to think it’s okay if we know nothing about one of the basic essentials of life, food? I guess as long as you go to your job at the office, factory, shop, school and pay your bills, it doesn’t much matter if you’re systematically poisoning or nutritionally starving yourself and your children due to ignorance.