Today is Food Revolution Day (see below for more information) and it got me thinking. I started thinking about my 4 year old son. Even though we are a fairly healthy family today, that wasn’t always the case. I think back to my pregnancy, I tried to be healthy but I know now that my definition of healthy wasn’t too great. Once he was beyond pureed baby food, we introduced things like hot dogs and chicken nuggets all while trying to get him to eat his vegetables. He was given cookies, ice cream, and many other treats before he even turned two. He now had a sweet tooth and started to push the vegetables away and didn’t really try anything new.
I am happy to report that he now is a vegetable loving little boy. He still loves his ice cream but knows that is special treat and only happens once and a while. How did I do it, you ask?
1) Be an example.
If you won’t eat your broccoli, why would they?
2) Grow a garden.
Even if you don’t have the space, do a container garden. Talk about how food grows, where is comes from.
3) Get the junk out of your house.
It may be a struggle at first but they will eat what is available when they are hungry.
4) Talk about what too much sugar or sweets can do to their body.
It can make them feel yucky, eventually tired and not give them the proper energy to play.
5) Take a trip to a local, grass fed farm (if possible). Let them see animals roaming in a field or vegetable gardens growing and explain to them how farms work.
6) Don’t cover up healthy foods too much.
Smothering something in cheese or hiding vegetables in something might work right away but the goal is to get them to make healthy choices on their own someday.
7) Get them involved in the kitchen.
Let them make messes.
8) Try something new and let them pick it out.
It can be a specific food or a recipe. Talk to them about what they are eating.
9) Celebrate successes.
A little praise goes a long way.
10) Understand that they won’t be perfect eaters and you can’t control everything.
This was my big lesson.
Today is Food Revolution Day. Never heard of it? Have you heard of Chef Jamie Oliver? You may have seen him speaking about sugar in school lunches or teaching kids how to cook using real food. He has started a revolution to educate every child about food, where is comes from and what it does to their bodies.
He has a petition going and is calling for all G20 countries to take action. But first, we have to take action and sign his petition. Below is a link to his petition and mission.
http://www.foodrevolutionday.com
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