Bots going throught strong food confusion probably hear the kids strong opinions daily considering three of them different countries and stuff
Jack: I mean we can eat anything but the big question is Should you thought?
Miko: Sounds like someone with food allergies would say
Jack: You maybe can eat raw fish without consequences but i rathet not risk salmonella or listeriosis
Raf: *probably has abuelita cooking lots of good food*Food is food
Funnily enough, Jack fusses over that because of fast-food experience and horror stories by restaurants and hospitals. Plus, he picked up on some of June's wellness habits, especially since Jack tended to get sick all the time as a young child. He warned Miko that botulism cases in the US usually come from improperly stored home canned food or the gas station nacho cheese sauce.
Miko came from Japan, so she had several culture shocks to jump, especially with food. American dining portions are huge since they're a very big (pun intended) on leftovers. Taking food home to eat later is deeply ingrained. It's common for Americans to eat out, but Japan is the opposite. Another thing that annoyed her was the advertising, but now she jokes that the pictures are tastier than the true product. And the amount of meat! It astounded her how much fucking red meat Americans like to eat. She deeply misses having a konbini because the American equivalent isn't the same, especially since the safety standards are different.
Raf can only be trusted with boiling water and ready meals since the girls and women in the Esquivel family shoo him out. He's familiar with ground pits since barbacoa is on the menu with family gatherings. Raf has excellent swiping skills as his siblings and cousins have the strength to shove him. He teams up with his sister as she does distractions, and he snatches away the good stuff.
So yeah, along with the 'Can you eat that?' game, the Autobots play '20 Questions' on preparation, ingredient acquisition, and cooking.
Supermarkets and farms are a Twilight Zone to them. There's food with different names to differentiate sizes, parts, and colors. (Arcee had thought the kids were messing her with broccoli and cauliflower.) Earth's varied languages add more to the confusion. Humans can eat rocks, poisons, and mold. There are perishable and non-perishable foods. Food that eats other food. Food that improves soil composition. Food that plays niche ecological roles. Food that's only about status. And choices, so many choices. A ridiculous number of choices in an American supermarket. Oh, and humans have a passionate love affair with cabbages and nightshade. Or with just plants in general.
Arcee started it as a joke, but now all the Autobots ask the resident humans if they did their "cabbage runs" and "picked up their posions" (aka grocery shopping with a play on the English idiom: "pick your poison." Yes, they have been told the meaning. No, they don't care because it makes so much more sense to them, especially with the nightshade and spices consumption).
