A friend just asked me an interesting question: What would I recommend as an appropriate chore for her three-year-old? Without blinking an eye, I said, “Two things–first, let him help you in the kitchen while you prepare meals (no knives or dangerous items). He’ll develop a natural curiosity about foods–for example, ‘what do you do with a spaghetti squash??'”

Then, I suggested he tend to his own little vegetable and herb garden. Okay, it’s winter in many parts of the country–but a child can be just as fascinated by a small window box or even an avocado-seed-in-a-glass. 

If that isn’t enough to convince us, maybe this is:

When British Super Chef Jamie Oliver sought to change school lunches in the U.S. and elsewhere a few years ago, we met teenagers at risk for diabetes; a teenager who lost her 400+ pound father when she was only 2-years-old; a 318 pound…