From the picture, there was boxed food and fresh food in the house however, we don’t know if the refrigerated food was edible or not. There were older siblings, so why didn’t they fix a meal? I taught mine basic life skills at very early ages - kitchen knife skills at age 3 (oh, the horrors!), use the stove as soon as they were tall enough to see into pans and were choosing ripe unblemished produce at the store when still sitting in the buggy.
That’s another failure of the welfare program. We should have caseworkers make home visits to teach parents and kids alike how to shop, store and prepare food and basic how/why of housekeeping. Being “dirt” poor doesn’t mean you have to live in filth. Sure, extra caseworkers mean more tax dollars but it is less than what we currently spend when children have to be removed and placed in state care. FYI, I was a CPS worker.
Isn’t that pretty much the mission of head start? My mom has been a head start home visitor for 26 years-parent and child education. Nutrition and life skills are part of that education.