vegetables

Healthy Food, Fun? You Betcha!

FUN WITH VEGGIES: ART, BOOKS, ACTIVITIES, SONGS

Does your child turn up his nose at vegetables? Would she rather miss out on dessert than finish her greens?

Children often do not like trying new foods. Sometimes we have to talk them into taking just one bite of something new–and do it every day for a couple of weeks, months, maybe even longer–before they decide that maybe it isn’t so bad after all. And might actually be delicious! (It doesn’t hurt to dream….)

U-Pick, Farmers’ Markets & CSAs: Fresh from the Farm

Farm-to-Table. It’s all the rage–and with good reason.

For starters, local food tastes better! It’s fresh-picked at its peak and delivered to your table in minimal time.

Food that comes from somewhere else has been transported on trucks, trains or planes and stored in warehouses before it finally gets to you–not so fresh any more.

Eating local benefits communities, farmers and the environment as well as our tastebuds. Grow NYC, a nonprofit that supports greenmarkets in New York City, tells how here.

HOW DOES YOUR GARDEN GROW?

Do your kids know where healthy food comes from? (Hopefully they realize it’s not from a convenience store or the drive-up window of a fast food restaurant!)

One of the best ways for children to learn about where the good food on your family table originates–and one of the best ways for them to learn to love it–is to grow it themselves.

Think about it: How much more likely is your daughter to eat a salad she makes herself–from ingredients she grew herself–than a salad plopped down in front of her at the table with the words, “Eat it. It’s good for you”? (“I don’t eat anything green,” I once heard a child pronounce.)

COOKING UP SOME HEALTHY FUN

If someone had told me a year ago that I’d be starting a blog dedicated to healthy foods, healthy cooking and healthy eating, I would have said she was crazy.

I mean, I’m not known as the healthiest of eaters. (My family, friends and housemates will corroborate.) Sometimes I skip meals. Sometimes—especially if I’ve skipped a meal—I stop at a drive-through for a burger. Sometimes I open a can for dinner and call it good. I have a weakness for pie and ice cream. Red wine. Dark chocolate. And I’ve never thought of vegetables as my closest friends.

So how do I explain Monsters Don’t Eat Broccoli and Once Upon a Parsnip, picture books that feature veggies, of all things?