There's so many people that don't really recognize a vegetable unless it's in a bit of plastic with an instruction packet on the top.

Pam Warhurst, a British community activist and co-founder of the Incredible Edible movement in Todmorden, has often spoken about how modern food systems and supermarket culture distance people from the origins of what they eat. This remark is typically used in her talks and interviews to illustrate a basic “food literacy” gap: many consumers encounter vegetables primarily as packaged, branded products rather than as plants grown in soil. The line fits Warhurst’s broader advocacy for visible, local growing—planting edible crops in public spaces and encouraging communities to reconnect with food through hands-on cultivation and shared access.

The quote critiques the way industrialized retail and convenience packaging can erode everyday knowledge of food. By saying some people only recognize a vegetable when it comes wrapped in plastic with instructions, Warhurst highlights how far removed many are from growing, harvesting, and cooking from scratch. The “instruction packet” suggests dependence on external guidance for something once learned through family and community practice. Implicitly, she argues that rebuilding familiarity with real, unpackaged produce is not just about diet, but about agency, environmental awareness, and community resilience—seeing food as a living thing rather than a commodity.