THIS is delicious
At supper last week Anna said the unspoken phrase that made my boys shutter. Scan your brain; can you guess what it was? They all clamored in at once, "No it isn't Anna! Don't say THAT!" There is an unwritten rule at my house, nothing is disgusting. Everything is delicious. Yup, everything. Is it my fabulous cooking skills? Not even close. Ryan has the rule, everything is delicious. Why would we encourage our children to speak an untruth? Well, many reasons.
In our house I generally am the cook. I am not a stay at home mom even when I do stay at home. I feed cows, track calving and breeding records, financial records, run for endless tractor parts, I bottle feed baby calves and endless farm tasks that appear each day. Usually cooking comes at the end of a busy day and is paired with homework across the table. Ryan has instilled in our children that they will be grateful for my gift of a homecooked meal. To complain is to minimize the gift. Of course, it can be properly worded that maybe this entrée could appear on the menu less frequently without being disrespectful. 
The next reason is that there are other ears listening. Gradually our kids are exiting the toddler stage, but even now Anna will still declare her dislike of whatever we are eating long before it is set upon the table. Later she will reverse and declare her love of this same menu item. In the middle, there is some coaxing. If in the middle another sibling declares their dislike, then no amount of coaxing can change her mind. Thus, EVERYTHING is delicious.
It is true that what we hear around us can change our perceptions, even as adults. These days what you say affects what you see. Literally your phone adjusts ads to the things you type and say. This constant modification can affect how you see life. Like living with a Debbie Downer who is constantly complaining, suddenly your sunshiny day is slightly overcast. So when the news talks about how cruel the beef industry is or how bad it is for the environment, it can change a perspective. Truth or a small slice of truth twisted, it rarely matters, the seed has been planted in the brain.
We are a small family farm. We cannot change the world's view of anything. But we can teach our children to care for the earth, its animals, and themselves in healthy loving ways. We will make mistakes, as parents and as farmers. But when you hear bad things on the news, remember just like in nutrition, everything in moderation. Unless it's Goodpasture Beef or Pork, then everything is delicious!