Educating children on the origins of what food they eat is a "challenge", Westcountry farming leaders said yesterday, after a survey unearthed a young generation with alarming beliefs in food myths.
Research by the British Nutrition Foundation found one in three primary schoolchildren thought cheese comes from plants while 10% think tomatoes grow underground.
Its survey of more than 27,500 children across the UK also revealed that almost one in five children think fish fingers come from chicken while pasta is produced from animals.
David George, spokesman for the National Farmer's Union (NFU) in the South West, said it was a "challenge for the industry" to help educate the public on where their food came from.
"A lot of people are disconnected from the source of their food," Mr George said.
"Meat is something that comes wrapped in plastic from the supermarket where people differentiate on price rather than where it comes from.
"Although people want high standards of welfare for animals, when they go to the supermarket and see chicken is 'two for a pound' they think 'bargain' not where it has come from or what needs to be done to produce it for that price."
The British Nutrition Foundation study showed a high level of awareness about healthy eating with more than three-quarters of primary school children and almost nine out of ten secondary school pupils knowing that people should consume five or more portions of fruit and vegetables each day.
However, two-thirds of younger children and three-quarters of older pupils reported eating four or less portions of fruit and vegetables daily.
The survey was conducted as part of the foundation's Healthy Eating Week, which involves more than 3,000 schools and 1.2 million children.
Roy Ballam, education programme manager at the foundation, said: "Through this survey one in five [21%] primary school children and 18% of secondary school pupils told us that they have never visited a farm.
"This may go part way to explaining why over a third [34%] of five to eight-year-olds and 17% of eight to 11-year-olds believe that pasta comes from animals."
Mr George said it already supported a number of campaigns on the origins of food including Linking Education and Farming (LEAF) which is running Open Farm Sunday this weekend.
"It's a fantastic opportunity for children to get outside, onto farms and find out where their food really comes from," he said.